Swallowing the Stars: 100x Return for Teaching Apprentices

Chapter 238 Facing the Strongest Being in the Universe

"Strange object."

Qi Yuan stared at the huge black divine wood in the hand of the Lord of Yuan'ao, his eyes gleaming with a faint light.

Even in the original work, the description of the 'strange object' is very vague.

The most frequently mentioned point in the original work is that this strange object is instinctively rejected by the primordial universe and cannot be brought into the primordial universe.

As for the origin of the strange objects, there is only a brief description of one or two sentences, saying that the strange objects are some strange wood and metal weapons used casually by the native life of the origin continent.

As for why this strange object was rejected by the primordial universe, while powerful weapons like the Chaos Golden Wings, which also drifted from the Origin Continent, were not rejected, there is no specific description.

"Could it be because these strange objects are tainted by the aura of the native life forms of the Origin Continent, and those native life forms were not born from the Primitive Universe, and are considered 'outsiders' to the Primitive Universe? Is that why the Primitive Universe rejects the 'strange objects' tainted by their aura?"

Qi Yuan could only make wild guesses like this.

"However, regardless of the circumstances, firstly, this artifact is powerful and precious enough, and secondly, this unique substance from the Origin Continent has extremely high research value, which may provide me with considerable insights into my research on divine bodies. I must try my best to seize this artifact!"

"In the original story, this strange object eventually fell into the hands of the Black Universe Founder. It seems we'll have to reveal some of our trump cards if we want to snatch it from the strongest being in the universe!"

Qi Yuan took one last, deep look at the enormous divine tree embraced by the Lord of Yuan'ao, before transmitting a message to Luo Feng and the others—

"Even my strongest attack can't hurt him. Let's leave and wait for the others to arrive."

He had only come along with the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds to test the waters, and seeing that even the strongest move, 'Chaos Burial,' couldn't do anything to the Lord of Yuan'ao, there was naturally no need to continue the entanglement.

"Even the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds and the Master of the Wonderful Fate Pavilion couldn't do anything to Yuan Ao. They had no choice but to leave!"

The Lord of Yu Nan had a serious expression.

"Let's go!"

Luo Feng nodded, and the enormous snake head of the Dark Python Lord also nodded slightly.

Whoosh!
The figures of several cosmic lords transformed into streaks of light and flew away swiftly.

Behind them, the Lord of Yuan'ao stood in the void, wielding a massive black divine tree, and mocked them wantonly:

"Hahaha, Lord of the Nine Netherworlds? Master of the Pavilion of Extraordinary Fate? You renowned Lords of the Universe, is this all you've got? Hahaha, you can't do anything to the strongest in the universe. I have this divine tree, which is not much weaker than the strongest in the universe, and I'm not afraid of you either! Hahaha."

In a silent void in the mysterious realm of Yuan, there is a mountain range floating in the void, and there is a waterfall hanging down from the mountain range.

Qi Yuan, Luo Feng, the Lord of You Nan, and the Lord of the Dark Python were quietly waiting by the pool below the waterfall.

"Wow!"

A hazy light appeared.

A figure emerged from within; it was none other than the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds, dressed in a luxurious black robe.

"Lord of the Nine Netherworlds." Qi Yuan, Luo Feng, Lord You Nan, Lord Dark Python, and the others all looked over.

"Yuan Ao's strength has indeed increased dramatically after obtaining the Black Divine Wood!"

The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds shook his head and said, "If he didn't have that divine tree, I could have seriously injured him with my strongest secret technique and self-destruct attack. But he just relied on the black divine tree to desperately attack and defend, which caused more than 90% of my attack to be resisted. I estimate that I only caused him to lose one-thousandth of his divine body."

"It is very strong, it has already reached the fifth level." Qi Yuan nodded.

"Fifth rank?" Luo Feng asked curiously.

At this time, he had not yet entered the Cosmic Sea and had little understanding of the power levels of the Cosmic Lords commonly used in the Cosmic Sea.

"According to the classification of the strength of the Universe Lords in the Cosmic Sea, they are divided into six levels. However, under normal circumstances, the fifth-level Universe Lord is already the highest level that can be reached. People like the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds and the Lord of Chaos City are at this level. As for the sixth level, it refers to the heaven-defying Universe Lord who controls the most powerful treasures. This level is generally not divided in the original universe," Qi Yuan explained with a faint smile.

"Only those who are heaven-defying universe masters who possess supreme treasures and are on the first to fifth tier can reach the sixth tier?" Luo Feng's eyes gleamed as he listened to Qi Yuan's explanation.

In his hands was a supreme treasure, the 'Star Tower'!
Currently, he is only at the Universe Venerable realm. With the Star Tower, he can unleash combat power comparable to some powerful Universe Lords. If he breaks through to the Universe Lord realm, his divine power will soar a hundredfold again, and he creates a sufficiently powerful secret technique, then he may become the first Universe Lord in the entire Primordial Universe to possess sixth-order strength!

Even the strongest being in the universe can only unleash this level of power within the original universe!
"It's almost here. I'm almost at the pinnacle of power in the entire primordial universe!" Luo Feng thought to himself with unwavering determination.

"Nine Netherworlds, a wondrous fate. In the primordial universe, the only beings whose attack methods can surpass yours are the strongest beings in the universe."

At this moment, the Lord of Dark Serpent spoke up, "If none of you can do anything to the Lord of Yuan'ao, then what should we do?"

"In a head-on battle, no one in the original universe can kill the Lord of Yuanao."

The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds looked at Qi Yuan and said, "Let's wait. Let's wait for the other universe lords to arrive before we talk about it. What do you think, Master of Strange Fate?"

"This time, it's your Ancestral God Sect that's taking the lead, and the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds is making the arrangements. I have no objections," Qi Yuan said with a smile and a nod.

“Alright, then it’s decided.” The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds nodded.

Qi Yuan, Luo Feng, and the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds, along with two other Universe Lords from the Ancestral God Sect, waited quietly. Soon after, Universe Lords from the other major peak forces in the universe also arrived one after another.

The first to arrive was the Zerg 'Lord of the Nether Lotus'. The Zerg have very few Universe Lords, but each one is terrifyingly powerful.

The Zerg are the masters of the universe; even the weakest among them can be considered to be at the peak level!
Not only are they proficient in soul-related methods such as illusions, they can also use material methods with the help of their Zerg warriors, making them extremely difficult to deal with.

"Rumble~~~~"

The universe collapsed, and the flow of space particles seemed like countless sands rolling.

A dazzling dark gold hive floated in the void, surrounded by a full 1000 powerful Zerg warriors. Each Zerg warrior exuded overwhelming power, and each of them could be called a top cosmic overlord. Under the control of the consciousness of the 'Cosmic Lord', their power was even more violent.

"Wow!"

Countless stick shadows converged and swept across the sky.

"Hahaha, Minglian... It's useless, all your methods are completely ineffective."

The Lord of Yuan'ao, standing a million kilometers tall, wielded a massive black divine tree, sweeping and smashing wildly through the void with unstoppable force, directly blocking the Zerg warriors' repeated combined attacks.

And far away.

Qi Yuan, Luo Feng, the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds, and others were merely bystanders.

"The Zerg Queen is truly a wondrous species, giving birth to Zerg warriors that resemble both weapons of war and possess the characteristics of life."

Qi Yuan watched the figures of the insectoid warriors under the control of the Lord of the Nether Lotus, his eyes flashing with divine light.

He felt that the Zerg Queen's special ability to reproduce was subtly related to the concept of 'creation' contained in the primordial star map.

"I can spare some energy to properly study that Zerg Queen in my hands later," Qi Yuan secretly decided.

……

Over there, seeing that he was no match for the Lord of Yuan'ao, the Lord of Minglian decisively led his insectoid warriors to retreat and then headed towards Qi Yuan and the Lord of Jiuyou and other beings.

"Human, the Master of a Strange Fate Pavilion"

The Lord of the Nether Lotus's gaze swept over Qi Yuan, a hint of coldness flowing from her beautiful, captivating eyes.

The four dominant races, including humans and insectoids, are locked in fierce battles and are now irreconcilably opposed to each other.

In particular, Qi Yuan had killed three Universe Lords of their Zerg Alliance in the battle on the Primordial Star, and even the supreme treasure palace 'Ice Emperor Palace' was lost to him. Naturally, the Lord of the Nether Lotus harbored immense hatred for Qi Yuan.

However, given the special circumstances, and knowing she was no match for Qi Yuan, she naturally dared not do anything.

"Nine Netherworlds, you watched me fight against the Lord of Yuan'ao without helping me."

The Lord of the Nether Lotus turned her beautiful and alluring eyes to the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds, silently diverting everyone's attention.

"You've seen how powerful he is, so there's no point in me helping you," the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds shook his head.

"So what does your Ancestral God Sect plan to do?" asked the Lord of the Dark Lotus.

"Where are you Zerg?" asked the Lord of Nine Netherworlds.

"I'll just take a look and report everything back to the Queen. The Queen will decide what to do." said the Lord of Minglian.

The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds smiled and said, "Then let's wait."

……

Qi Yuan and other powerful beings waited silently, and soon, the universe lords from other forces also began to arrive one after another.

The Golden Horn Lord and the Whirlwind Lord of the Starry Sky Beast Alliance; the Eye Demon Lord of the Prison Clan; the Sky Wolf Lord and the Nether Demon Lord of the Demon Clan.
Each batch of cosmic lords who arrived at the Mysterious Realm of Yuan'ao would first engage in battle with the Lord of Yuan'ao.

However, before the Lord of Yuan'ao, who possessed extraordinary artifacts, even the powerful Lords of the universe, such as the Lord of Golden Horn and the Lord of the Demon, were defeated one after another.

In other words, the universe masters sent by the various super powers were either extremely powerful or had extremely strong means of survival, so none of them perished.

……

As time passed, batches of powerful individuals arrived, including most of the major super powers in the universe. Each batch was utterly crushed, and then they naturally joined together with Qi Yuan, the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds, and the others.

There are nine major powers in the primordial universe, of which the Ancestral God Cult, the Demon Race, the Insect Race, the Human Race, the Starry Sky Beast Alliance, the Prison Race, the Crystal Race, and the Northern Frontier Alliance have arrived.

Even the Nine Domains Alliance, a slightly less powerful force, sent two Universe Lords: the Flame Emperor and the Lord of Absolute Beacon, both from the original story. With the Universe Lords of all the major forces gathered, some were entangled in conflict, such as the three major races and the human race, while others, like the Flame Emperor and Luo Feng, naturally engaged in verbal sparring.

However, since many forces share a common goal, they are only exchanging words and will not recklessly attack and deplete their own strength.

……

"It's been so long."

The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds looked around. "The Machine Race hasn't arrived yet. It seems their Father God is in his own universe, unaware of all this. We won't wait any longer!"

"Ah."

"No wait."

Among the various forces present, the Ancestral God Sect was still implicitly considered to be the leader, and the Ancestral God Sect was represented by the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds.

"Our eight forces plus the Nine Domains Alliance make up nine factions," the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds said directly. "As for the Lord of Yuan'ao, I believe everyone knows his strength. Let's discuss how to resolve this."

"The Lord of Yuan'ao possesses a rare artifact that has greatly increased his strength, making him almost on par with the Lord of the Star River. In the primordial universe, let alone us, even the strongest beings in the universe would probably be unable to do anything to him. What can we do?"

"Fighting is not an option."

There's no other way.

"That's the only way."

"Correct."

"That's the only move we have left."

All parties agreed.

The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds nodded and said, "It seems that everyone has reached a consensus. With the strength of the Lord of Yuan'ao, it is indeed impossible to kill him head-on. There is only one way—suppression and sealing! Suppress and seal him, and then send him to a separate universe in one of the worlds. Then we can kill him."

All parties nodded in agreement.

Once someone becomes the Lord of the Universe, it becomes very difficult for ordinary Lords of the Universe to kill them. Only beings like Qi Yuan, the Lord of Chaos City, the Lord of the Star River, the Lord of the Nine Netherworlds, and the Lord of Yuan'ao who possesses the Black Divine Tree can kill an ordinary Lord of the Universe.

Some of the stronger ones, or those with extremely valuable treasures, are very difficult for them to kill.

As for those at their level, or even the top-tier fourth-order universe lords who are slightly inferior, they are extremely difficult to kill even if the strongest beings in the universe make a move. Even if they can be killed, the price they pay is extremely heavy!
What should I do?
Suppress and seal!

Maybe you can't kill the enemy, but you can gain the upper hand and suppress him, which is usually possible.

As long as you first 'suppress the opponent', and then force them to be swallowed up directly through the 'seal-type treasure', they will be trapped inside the 'seal-type treasure'. With the stability of the seal-type treasure, for example, a top-tier seal-type treasure is so powerful that even the strongest person in the universe cannot break it open.

Then it is sent to places such as the 'initial universe'.

In the primordial universe, the Lord of Chaos City, utilizing the origin of the primordial universe, was absolutely invincible. He could even kill the strongest beings in the universe, let alone a Lord of Yuan'ao!

"The only way to deal with the Lord of the Cave is to suppress and seal him."

The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds looked at the various cosmic lords who were either standing or entrenched in the distance. "However, the Lord of Yuan'ao is not stupid. First, he must be wary, because this is the only way to kill him. Second, he will not allow us to suppress and seal him. We need to come up with a detailed plan on what to do."

"I possess a supreme treasure of the peak domain type, whose domain range can cover a radius of tens of light-years, making it difficult for the Lord of Yuan'ao to escape."

“I have a supreme treasure for suppressing and sealing, which is at the top level and is enough to suppress him.”

……

One by one, the cosmic rulers of the various powers spoke.

Even Qi Yuan exclaimed, "I possess a supreme treasure of the highest level, capable of suppressing evil spirits!"

All parties present were well aware that the 'strange object' was rejected by the primordial universe.

Once the Lord of Yuan'ao is killed and the wondrous object is taken outside the primordial universe, the rewards they receive from the primordial universe will vary according to the size of their contributions. At this point, everyone will naturally do their best.

Representatives from all the major powers were prepared.

There are three individuals who possess supreme treasures of the pinnacle domain level: the Lord of Golden Horn, the Lord of the Nether Lotus, and the Lord of the Eye Demon.

As for the treasures of the sealing type, they are naturally under Qi Yuan's control.

After a brief discussion, the nine factions quickly formulated a general plan.

"it is good."

The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds nodded. "The plan is set! We'll proceed as we say. However, the Lord of Yuan'ao is not stupid, so everyone must be vigilant."

"Ah."

"It's natural."

"Don't worry, Jiuyou."

The voices of the cosmic lords from all factions, including the human race, responded in unison.

However, at that moment, a chilling voice echoed throughout this cosmic space—

"Your plan sounds good, but with so many Lords of the Universe, are you absolutely sure you can corner the Lord of Yuan'ao? And trap him in the Sealing Treasure?"

The Lord of the Nine Netherworlds, the Lord of the Ice Peak, the Lord of the Golden Horn, the Flame Emperor, and others all looked around at the void.

"Who has arrived?"

Qi Yuan also looked into the distance.
In the endless void, an inexplicable pressure descended!

An incomparably powerful will puts pressure on all the lords of the universe.

Wow!
In the endless void, a blurry figure gradually solidified. It was a deep black suit of armor, within which golden flames formed a blurry humanoid shape.

This golden fire giant was clad in black armor, and behind it was a colossal phantom in the void, with countless stars undulating within it, resembling a universe.

"Kurozu!"

"The Founder of the Dark Universe!"

"It turned out to be him."

"He is the strongest in the universe!"

"He is wearing the supreme treasure, the 'Black Cosmic Armor'!"

The cosmic lords of the nine forces were all overwhelmed by the imposing aura of this suddenly arriving great being, the 'Black Universe Founder'.

Even Qi Yuan looked on with curiosity.

"This is the founder of the Black Universe?"

According to the information he had reviewed, the Black Cosmic Founder was originally a flame being who later cultivated into the strongest being in the universe and possessed the supreme treasure, the 'Black Cosmic Divine Armor,' making him extremely powerful.

However, in this primordial universe, even the most powerful universe beings can only unleash sixth-tier combat power at most. Therefore, although the universe lords, including Qi Yuan, were excited and polite to him, they did not show too much fear.

"Haha, everyone, I have a suggestion."

The golden flames gradually condensed into a fiery head, which spoke, "I will take the lead, and you will assist me, so that the Lord of Yuan'ao will be trapped in the sealed treasure. I am alone, without any power or territory, so there is no need to worry about taking credit for your work."

The Lords of the Universe on the huge mountain range floating in the void were silent for a moment.

"What do you want?" asked the Lord of Jiuyou.

"I want that rare item," said the golden flames encased in black armor. "Don't get excited. I'm not going to steal it, but rather exchange it for something of equal value. I'm willing to use some top-tier treasures and other precious items to exchange for the rare item! There's only one rare item, and your various factions can't possibly share it. You might as well give it to me, and I'll give you all my treasures in return."

"What do you think?" The Lord of Jiuyou glanced around.

A silence.

After a moment, the Lord of the Dark Lotus was the first to speak, his voice pleasant: "Since the Founder of the Black Universe has come forward personally, we, the Zerg, have no objection."

"We in the Northern Xinjiang Alliance have no objection either."

“We, the Prison Clan, have no objections.”

……

Even the few universe lords present, including the Yan Emperor who seemed somewhat unwilling, eventually agreed.

Actually, it wasn't that they agreed, but rather that the 'strongest being in the universe' behind them agreed.

From the perspective of all parties, it's better for the 'Black Universe Founder' to disregard his reputation and personally appear just for a rare item, and in an exchange of equal value, than to offend the strongest being in the universe!
After all, the strongest solitary being in the universe has no ties and can cause every superpower a huge headache if he really goes berserk. So it's best not to offend him if possible.

However, amidst these choruses of approval, Qi Yuan from the human race stepped forward and spoke softly:

"Excuse me, Black Universe Founder, our human race is also determined to obtain this wondrous item!"

(End of this chapter)