Swallowing the Stars: Heart of the Martial God

Chapter 162 Eternal-level Treasure

The entire palace is like a manifestation of the laws of space; it is itself a part of space, and even the surrounding space breathes slowly in accordance with the rhythm of its secret patterns.

Ling Xuan slowly approached, and with each step he took, he could feel the pressure emanating from the palace growing stronger. That pressure was not aimed at his divine body, but rather directly at his spatial perception, as if it were screening the qualifications of those who approached—only those with a deep enough understanding of space could maintain their stability under this pressure.

When he was millions of kilometers away from the palace, the space around him suddenly became unusually stagnant. It was not an attack, but a natural repulsive force—just as water repels substances that are insoluble in itself, this spatial treasure was also using the power of the void to filter out any living beings qualified to approach.

Ling Xuan stopped, the three-pointed double-edged sword in his hand trembled slightly, and the cloud pattern on the back of the blade shone with a faint silver light.

Instead of forcibly breaking through, he unleashed his understanding of the fundamental nature of space, resonating with the law fluctuations emanating from the palace.

As the two spatial forces resonated, the stagnant space around them gradually loosened, and the repulsive force weakened accordingly.

He continued forward, and as he approached within 50,000 kilometers, the frequency of the secret patterns on the palace's surface increased, and the spatial fluctuations between the patterns became increasingly intense. Occasionally, tiny spatial ripples would spread toward him—these were the natural aftershocks of the laws emitted by the treasure after it sensed the outsider, like ripples on a lake caused by the wind, carrying the tremors of space.

Ling Xuan's Supreme Emperor Power quietly circulated within his body. The crimson pressure was not released outwards, but rather condensed on his body surface. When it came into contact with the spatial ripples, it was gently guided to both sides.

He knew that all spatial fluctuations were natural manifestations of the laws, and that as long as he followed their rhythm, he could approach safely.

When he arrived at the palace entrance, the space there presented a peculiar sense of "flow".

There was no physical gate, only a constantly distorting space. The interior of the palace could be vaguely seen from the depths of the space, but it was obscured by multiple spatial barriers, as if through countless layers of thin gauze.

Ling Xuan did not rush in rashly. This kind of treasure was probably a legendary supreme treasure. With such dense void power, it might even be a treasure above the Eternal Realm. Its interior must be extremely complex. If he took a wrong step, he might fall into spatial turbulence.

He stood at the entrance, closed his eyes and concentrated, releasing all his senses to explore the laws and rhythms of the entrance space little by little.

As his perception deepened, he "saw" that the space at the entrance was actually composed of nine overlapping spatial membranes. Each membrane corresponded to a different spatial frequency, and the frequency would change every ten breaths. If the corresponding frequency could not be found, even if one forced their way in, they would be bounced back by the spatial membrane or even pulled into the spatial crevices.

Ling Xuan held his breath, staring intently at the spatial fluctuations at the entrance, and slightly raised the three-pointed double-edged sword in his hand, ready to trigger the corresponding spatial membrane at any moment.

Ten breaths, twenty breaths, thirty breaths... When he reached the thirty-seventh breath, he finally caught a frequency that matched his own spatial power. He flicked his wrist, and the spatial power on the blade acted like a precise key, instantly triggering the spatial membrane.

With a soft "hum", the space at the entrance stopped distorting and slowly unfolded, revealing a spatial passage leading inside. The two sides of the passage were glowing with a pale purple light, the color of the space's origin. Walking through it, one could clearly feel the gentle fluctuations of the surrounding space. However, every three steps, the spatial frequency of the passage would change slightly. If one's steps did not match the frequency, spatial ripples would appear under one's feet, as if the passage might collapse at any moment.

The secret runes on the wall lit up from time to time, projecting a series of illusory images—sometimes desolate cosmic ruins with huge planetary debris floating in the darkness; sometimes planets riddled with spatial rifts, their surfaces torn into countless pieces, with rubble constantly falling into the rifts; and sometimes even a phantom figure identical to Ling Xuan stepped out of the image, also wielding a three-pointed double-edged sword, and slashed at him.

Ling Xuan's eyes narrowed, and he swung out the three-pointed double-edged sword in his hand. The silver sword light collided with the sword light of the phantom, and the phantom instantly turned into starlight and dissipated.

He was no longer distracted by these illusions, his gaze fixed on the end of the passage, and he moved forward steadily.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a spacious area finally appeared at the end of the passage—this was the first floor of the palace. The floor was paved with countless hexagonal black crystals, each crystal engraved with different spatial runes. In the gaps between the crystals, a pale purple spatial primordial power flowed. Stepping on it, one could clearly feel the pulse of space beating.

On the circular stone platform in the very center, nine transparent spatial portals float, each displaying a different spatial scene.

Ling Xuan stepped forward and tried to bring his hand close to the first light gate. He immediately felt a strong repulsive force. The spatial frequency inside the light gate was completely contrary to his power. If he forced his way in, he would be torn apart by the spatial force.

He tested the other light gates one by one, until the seventh light gate, when the repulsive force weakened significantly—the space inside this light gate was a calm nebula, with pale blue mist flowing slowly, subtly echoing the spatial fluctuations around him.

Ling Xuan did not rush to step into the light gate. His gaze swept across the edge of the stone platform and found several fist-sized crystal spheres lying quietly in the corner. They were light purple in color and so transparent that one could see the spatial luster flowing inside.

He bent down and picked one up. The moment his fingertips touched it, he felt an extremely pure spatial force surge into his body. The surface of the crystal ball had 10081 facets, as if it were connected to the spatial origin of the universe.

"The Heart of Space?" Ling Xuan was overjoyed. He hadn't expected to acquire such a valuable item so quickly on this trip.

This thing is extremely advanced, a crucial core used to create spatial-type primordial treasures.

With just a few auxiliary materials, a complete spatial origin treasure can be crafted.

The complete Origin Treasure that Xuan Gu's clone obtained last time was only a Space Origin Treasure.

Most importantly, there are so many Space Cores here. Such precious materials are not common even in the "Five-Colored Abyss" of the Ancestral God Sect, which is famous for producing space treasures.

However, considering the extremely dense void power here that shouldn't exist in the primordial universe, he no longer found it unusual.

With a thought, he carefully put away these spatial cores before stepping into the seventh gate of light.

The moment you step through the portal, the scene before you changes abruptly.

He arrived at the second floor of the palace, where there was no ground, only countless fragments of space suspended in the void. Some were as large as millstones, while others were only the size of a palm. The fragments were separated by distances of several meters or even tens of meters, and each fragment was rotating at a different speed.

Even more dangerous is that invisible spatial blades occasionally sweep across the sky. These blades are extremely fast and appear without warning. Even a master of the universe could be cut if he is not careful.

Ling Xuan leaped into the air, his figure as light as a swallow, and landed precisely on a space fragment the size of a millstone.

As soon as the fragment beneath his feet shifted, he used the momentum to leap towards another fragment.

The spatial blade hurtling towards him with a piercing sound as it cut through the air was swiftly swung out by Ling Xuan's three-pointed double-edged sword. The silver blade light flashed like lightning, slicing the spatial blade into countless tiny fragments that dissipated into the void.

He leaped between the suspended fragments, each landing precise and each swing of his sword perfectly timed, deflecting all the incoming spatial blades.

Just as he was about to reach the end of the second level, a violent tearing sound suddenly came from the space behind him, and a huge figure rushed out from the spatial rift.

This monster was entirely composed of dark purple spatial crystals, its body resembling a giant octopus, but with nine heads riddled with spatial rifts. Ten thick tentacles extended from beneath each head, covered in sharp crystalline protrusions. Each swing tore through the surrounding space, leaving trails of darkness. Without any further movement, the monster unleashed a silent roar from all nine heads, and its ten tentacles, like ten black lightning bolts, lashed out at Ling Xuan.

Wherever the tentacles swept, space was forcibly torn apart, forming spatial rifts powerful enough to threaten the ruler of the universe.

Ling Xuan's eyes narrowed, and the Supreme Emperor's Might within his body erupted instantly. The pale red pressure spread outwards like a tangible flame.

The three-pointed double-edged sword in his hand shone with a dazzling silver light as he slashed at the foremost tentacle. The moment the blade collided with the tentacle, a deafening roar was heard, and dark purple crystal fragments flew everywhere. The tentacle was cut with a deep gash by the blade, but it did not break off. Instead, it rapidly healed itself with the help of spatial power.

"It can actually repair itself by using the power of space?" Ling Xuan thought to himself, and changed his footwork to instantly avoid the other nine tentacles that were attacking.

Seeing this, the monster's nine heads simultaneously turned towards Ling Xuan, spewing out beams of dark purple spatial energy. Wherever these beams passed, tiny black holes were burned into the space, as they pursued Ling Xuan. Ling Xuan continuously swung his three-pointed double-edged sword, unleashing a barrage of silver blade beams that precisely struck the spatial energy beams, shattering them.

At the same time, the ultimate laws within his body were operating at full power, and the space around him began to fluctuate violently, forming spatial vortexes that temporarily trapped the monster's tentacles.

The monster seemed to be enraged. Its body suddenly swelled, and its nine heads simultaneously unleashed a thick beam of spatial light towards Ling Xuan. The beams merged together, forming a gigantic beam of light that, carrying a destructive aura, crushed towards Ling Xuan.

Ling Xuan took a deep breath and poured all the power of the ultimate laws and the origin of space into the three-pointed double-edged sword. The blade instantly glowed with black and white light.

He gripped the sword with both hands and slashed fiercely at the giant pillar of light—a sword beam that stretched across the sky and earth, carrying an invincible intent. The moment it collided with the pillar of light, space seemed to freeze, and then a violent tremor erupted.

The blade's edge sliced ​​through the giant pillar of light in two as easily as cutting tofu, and continued its momentum as it slashed towards the monster.

The monster had no time to dodge and was struck by the blade's edge. Its dark purple crystalline body instantly disintegrated, and three of its nine heads were severed.

It let out a silent roar, and the rest of its body began to twist wildly, trying to escape using the power of space.

Ling Xuan wasn't about to give it a chance. He flashed and instantly appeared behind the monster, unleashing his three-pointed double-edged sword once more. A blade of light pierced precisely through the monster's core.

With a "whoosh," the monster's body completely disintegrated, turning into countless dark purple crystal fragments that dissipated into space.

Only a fist-sized, dark purple crystal remained in place, radiating a faint spatial power—this was the monster's core, containing the spatial essence it had nurtured over many years.

Ling Xuan reached out and picked up the crystal. At the same time, his gaze swept over the surrounding spatial fragments and found that many fragments were embedded with tiny spatial cores. He carefully collected them one by one, and there were dozens of them in total.

At this moment, Ling Xuan had reached the end of the second level, where nine light gates floated on the stone platform in front of him.

The fluctuations within the doors were no longer monotonous and distorted, but rather exuded a unique rhythm—some doors were shrouded in blue mist, with swaying shadows of grass and trees; others were filled with surging crimson flames, carrying a sharp aura.

Each of the nine gates of light contains a unique power, repelling and attracting each other, forming an invisible net that exudes a chilling pressure.

"This trip has been quite challenging. The strength of that monster was probably comparable to a third-tier universe master." Ling Xuan raised his hand, his expression solemn.

We've already encountered such a formidable enemy on the second level; who knows what we'll face in the future?

After a moment's thought, Ling Xuan took out the Void Mirror from his storage ring.

He said earnestly, "Senior, why don't you wait for me here?"

If his true self were to perish here, his ability to create clones would not be a true demise. All the divine abilities bestowed by the Heart of the Martial God are bound to his soul and consciousness. He can simply allow his Nine Nether clones to regenerate his true self.

The Void Mirror is different. Although it is an ultimate imperial weapon, its strength is limited. If it is truly destroyed, then we will truly be defeated.

The deity in the Void Mirror remained silent for a long time upon hearing this, the eerie light on the purple mirror flickering, seemingly never expecting that one day it would become the one who dragged others down.

A moment later, the deity's voice came with a hint of helplessness and determination: "Go, I will wait for you here. If you perish, I will go out myself."

It could clearly sense that the area beyond the nine gates of light possessed power far exceeding its limits. It was a realm that even the Great Emperor had to treat with caution, and it was far beyond its current capabilities.

Ling Xuan leaped into the air, his figure transforming into a pale purple stream of light, and rushed straight into the portal.

The moment you step in, the surrounding scenery changes abruptly. Beneath your feet is a platform shimmering with a faint purple light, and tiny fragments of space keep falling off the edges and into the dark turbulent currents below.

In the distance, countless huge rocks floated in space, their surfaces covered with bottomless cracks, occasionally punctuated by spatial lightning that crackled and hissed.

Ling Xuan gripped the three-pointed double-edged sword tightly, his divine power constantly active.

He could sense that every spatial fluctuation and every crack here contained pure laws he had never encountered before. If he could comprehend them, his control over the fundamental principles of space would be immeasurably enhanced.

"This treasure is definitely not simple; it must be at least an Eternal-level treasure." The more Ling Xuan observed, the more delighted he became.

Although he is currently very powerful, he does not yet possess a supreme treasure that can deliver the final blow. If he could obtain this palace, his survival and strength would undoubtedly increase significantly.

Moreover, this treasure is perfectly suited to comprehending the origin of space; perhaps he could even become an eternal true god in the primordial universe simply by comprehending the laws.

The thought of this filled Ling Xuan with immense excitement.

But he had no time to linger, his gaze fixed on the center of the rock formation—where the spatial fluctuations were most intense, clearly the entrance to the core area.

(End of this chapter)