Swallowing the Stars: Heart of the Martial God

Chapter 172 Fighting the Seventh True Lord
Upon hearing this, Lord An Yong felt as if a huge rock was blocking his chest, making it hard to breathe. He dared not stop for even a moment, and could only grit his teeth and urge his remaining divine power to make the Ice Sand Sea do its best to resist the binding of the Divine Elephant Stepping on the Heavenly Domain.

That domain was like a leech, constantly compressing his space to dodge. If it weren't for the protection of the remnants of the treasure, he would have been caught long ago.

"Human, don't be so arrogant!" he roared, turning around, his voice filled with barely concealed panic. "My Seventh True Lord of the Divine Eye Clan is within the waters. If you continue to pursue me, don't blame him for taking action. You won't even have a chance to beg for mercy!"

"If you can't beat them, you call for reinforcements?" Ling Xuan's laughter grew louder, his eyes full of mockery. "Is this the style of your Divine Eye Clan? You dare to call yourself a strongman from the First Reincarnation Era? You're nothing but a useless piece of trash who only knows how to hide behind the strong!"

Ling Xuan at this moment is no longer the person who needed to conceal his brilliance.

After attaining the Supreme Dao Emperor realm, he further comprehended the Heavenly Blade's intent, and his cultivation level advanced by leaps and bounds. His divine body and divine power had both broken through their shackles, and it was only a matter of time before he became the strongest being in the Universe Sea.

Within the primordial universe, limited by the primordial will, he could only exert sixth-tier combat power, and had to give some face to the strongest among the demon race and insect race; but in the cosmic sea, freed from the constraints of the primordial will, the face of those so-called strongest in the universe was no different from the sole of a shoe in his eyes, which he could trample on at will without any scruples.

The Lord of An Yong was so shocked by Ling Xuan's retort that his face turned red, but he was speechless and both surprised and angry.

Knowing full well that he was no match for Emperor Yan, he dared not linger and unleashed his full divine power, fleeing desperately through the icy sea like a dim streak of light.

At the same time, he anxiously sent a distress signal to the Seventh God, who was also in the water, his voice filled with fear and despair: "Damn humans, when the Seventh God descends, it will be your death day! At that time, you humans will not have a good life in this cosmic sea!"

Within the Seventh God's miniature universe, the avatar of the Lord of Eternity, his face filled with anxiety, pleaded with the Seventh God's avatar: "Seventh God, I am being pursued by a human in the waters, and the situation is critical!"

"Which human being is so audacious?" The Seventh God was filled with doubt.

After all, their Divine Eye Clan is the strongest force in the Cosmic Sea, possessing seven of the strongest beings in the universe. Among them, the First True Lord, Divine Eye, is the strongest being in the Cosmic Sea. Apart from the two Holy Land Ancestors who have been out of the public eye for a long time, almost no one can contend with him.

Moreover, the progenitors of the two holy lands have not appeared in the world for countless reincarnations, and their deterrent power is far inferior to that of the Divine Eye True Lord.

He could hardly believe that any human would dare to hunt down a powerful member of his Divine Eye Clan.

"I don't know, but it seems to be a newly ascended universe lord from the primordial universe era," replied the divine incarnation of Lord An Yong.

"A newly promoted universe master can hunt you down?" The Lord of Jia Yu looked on in astonishment.

In the Cosmic Sea, most of the newcomers who have just come to train are only at the third level, and the strongest are only at the fourth level. How could they possibly chase after An Yongzhi?
Although the Lord of An Yong is also at the fourth level, he has cultivated for more than two reincarnations, mastered multiple fourth-level secret techniques, and possesses top-tier treasures. How could he be no match for a human who has just emerged?
"Could it be the legendary Yan Emperor?" the Lord of the Five Chaos suddenly asked, his expression grave.

"Emperor Yan?" The Seventh True Lord turned his gaze to the Lord of the Five Chaos. "The Five Chaos, do you know him?"

The Lord of the Five Chaos nodded solemnly and said, "This Flame Emperor is no ordinary man. It is said that he is a disciple of the creator of the Giant Axe. He has only been cultivating for a little over five thousand years, yet his combat power has already reached the level of a sixth-order Universe Lord. He once fought a great battle against the Dream Demon Ancestor of the Demon Clan outside the Ancestral Mystic Realm. The two were evenly matched and it was difficult to determine who was superior."

"What?" The Seventh God looked incredulous.

It took him nearly half a lifetime to break through and become the strongest in the universe. It's hard to believe that someone could reach such a height in just five thousand years.

Five thousand?
Time flies by in the blink of an eye; even a short nap would take him longer than that.

"Wu Hun, is your information correct?" the Lord of Jia Yu also questioned.

“I’m afraid what Wu Hun said is true. After that human burned his divine power, he annihilated my divine body with a single strike. No one but a sixth-order universe lord could do such a thing.” Lord An Yong hurriedly added, “Seventh True Lord, you must come to save me quickly. If you are any later, my clones will not be able to supply enough divine power.”

Just as they were talking, Ling Xuan once again successfully killed the true form of the Lord of An Yong. If it weren't for the fact that his plant clone was enormous and had a constant supply of divine power, it would probably have perished long ago.

"Stay calm, I'm on my way as fast as I can," the Seventh True Lord quickly reassured him, but he was also helpless, as traveling still takes time.

"Now tell us more about this human. Does he possess any supreme treasures?"

"I don't know." Lord An Yong shook his head. "I didn't sense any aura of him using the most powerful treasure."

"It shouldn't be." The Lord of the Five Chaos also shook his head. "The information I received is that the human fought the Dream Demon Ancestor to a standstill with only a high-grade treasured battle sword. His strength seems to have no need to rely on the strongest treasure to demonstrate it."

“If humanity truly possesses an ultimate treasure, logically, it would be given priority to the creator of the giant axe, the strongest being in the universe,” the other universe lords echoed.

"How could it be so heaven-defying?" The Seventh True Lord's expression grew increasingly solemn.

The fact that this human can unleash sixth-tier combat power without relying on a supreme treasure means that this human has most likely created a sixth-tier secret technique. Such a powerful individual could break through and become the strongest in the universe at any time.

But that wasn't what worried him the most; what was most troublesome was the terrifying talent the other party had displayed.

"Is it possible that humanity in this primordial universe is about to produce another progenitor?" The Seventh True Lord remained silent for a long time before slowly uttering these words, "An Yong, you must hold on, I'll be there soon!"

At the same time, his avatar, which remained in the microcosm of the First God, quickly reported the matter to God the Eye.

"What?" The Divine Eye True Lord was equally shocked. "No, this human's potential is too terrifying. Since he has already offended our Divine Eye Clan, he must not be allowed to live. He must be nipped in the bud. You go immediately and make sure to capture that human. Azure Eye and Star, you two go with him as well. You must not let that human escape!"

"Yes, sir!" the Third and Sixth Allahs replied in unison.

Their location was closest to the water, so if the Seventh God could keep the human occupied, they could arrive in time to kill him completely.

Just as the Lord of Anyong was struggling to hold on, hoping for the Seventh True Lord's rescue, a huge wave suddenly surged up in the distant waters, and a white divine light several times stronger than the Lord of Anyong shot into the sky, instantly locking onto Ling Xuan's location.

Immediately afterwards, a majestic roar, like rolling thunder, resounded all around: "Insolence! Who dares to be disrespectful to my Divine Eye Clan? Stop at once!"

Ling Xuan looked up and saw a figure clad in pure white divine armor riding the waves. This person was surrounded by nine rings of light, and in each ring floated a one-eyed phantom, exuding a chilling pressure. This was none other than the Seventh True Lord of the Divine Eye Clan.

The Seventh God moved with incredible speed, traversing light-years in the blink of an eye, and stood firmly in front of the Lord of An Yong.

He held a white longsword in his hand, its blade gleaming coldly, pointing it directly at Ling Xuan, and said coldly, "Human, do you know what a heinous crime it is to kill someone from my Divine Eye Clan?"

Ling Xuan stopped, his Heaven-Slaying Blade pointing diagonally at the ground. The crimson blade energy collided with the white divine light of the Seventh True Lord in the air, stirring up layers of spatial ripples.

Ling Xuan remained calm and sneered, "Ridiculous! It was your Divine Eye Clan that provoked us first, and now that you can't win, it's my fault?" The Seventh True Lord's gaze was piercing as he stared intently at Ling Xuan and said in a deep voice, "Hmph, sophistry! Today, you injured members of my Divine Eye Clan, and you think you can escape unscathed? Absolutely not!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the nine rings of light around him shone brightly, and the one-eyed phantoms floating within them opened their eyes one by one. Each eye shot out a strange white beam of light. These beams intertwined and converged in the air, forming a huge white light net that enveloped Ling Xuan.

Wherever the light network passed, space cracked like a shattered mirror, its powerful tearing force seemingly threatening to shred everything.

Upon seeing this, Ling Xuan's eyes sharpened, sensing the terrifying power contained within the net of light.

He dared not let his guard down, and stopped talking. Trying to reason with unreasonable people and trying to prove himself was the stupidest thing to do would only be a waste of time.

The only way to deal with this kind of person is to simply say "I don't eat beef," teach them a lesson, and convince them with reason.

The Heaven-Slaying Blade slashed out diagonally, and a crimson blade aura, carrying a chilling imperial might, tore apart the white light net.

Seeing that the Light Net had failed, the Seventh True Lord snorted coldly and swung his white longsword. A white blade of light, tens of light-years long and carrying endless chill, slashed towards Ling Xuan.

Even before the blade's edge arrived, Ling Xuan already felt a bone-chilling cold, as if his very soul was about to be frozen.

Ling Xuan's eyes were firm, and he gripped the Heaven-Slaying Blade tightly with both hands. The five secret realms within his body boiled simultaneously, and the supreme divine power surged out like a volcanic eruption, pouring all of it into the Heaven-Slaying Blade.

He roared and swung the Heaven-Slaying Blade, unleashing an even more powerful crimson blade light to meet the white blade light.

The two blades of light collided fiercely in the air, like two stars colliding, bursting out with dazzling light, illuminating the entire water area as if it were daytime.

The powerful impact completely tore apart the surrounding space, forming huge black holes that devoured everything around them.

Ling Xuan and the Seventh True Lord were both thrown back by the impact. After regaining their footing, they looked at each other, a hint of surprise flashing in their eyes.

The Seventh True Lord was surprised that Ling Xuan, at such a young age, possessed such formidable strength; Ling Xuan, in turn, was surprised that the Seventh True Lord, as a veteran and the strongest in the universe, was so weak, seemingly possessing only the combat power of a seventh-tier being, comparable to his own combat power after unleashing "Explosive Flame".

His innate secret technique, Explosive Flame, is not the strongest secret technique, but a genuine divine power burning secret technique that can increase his strength by one level.

However, neither of them showed any sign of backing down. After a brief eye contact, they charged at each other again, and an even more intense battle ensued.

Their figures darted swiftly through the water, sometimes transforming into streaks of light, sometimes hovering in the air, each clash accompanied by powerful energy fluctuations and spatial tremors.

The surrounding seawater, in the aftermath of their battle, kept evaporating, freezing, and evaporating again, plunging the entire waterway into chaos.

Seeing that the Seventh True Lord and Ling Xuan were locked in a fierce battle, the Lord of An Yong felt somewhat relieved. He quickly took the opportunity to recover his divine power while closely monitoring the battle, hoping that the Seventh True Lord could defeat Ling Xuan as soon as possible and avenge him.

"Damn it!" The Seventh True Lord was increasingly alarmed. This Flame Emperor not only possessed sixth-tier combat power, but even with his own divine power burning, he could hardly gain the upper hand. The two were locked in a fierce and evenly matched battle.

Moreover, Ling Xuan's swordsmanship was superb, and his attacks were fierce. In every exchange, I seemed to be the one at a disadvantage.

If he weren't the strongest being in the universe, with a defense far surpassing that of the universe's master, and with a constant supply of divine power from smaller universes, he would almost have considered retreating and turned to flee.

"Human, you deserve to die!" the Seventh True Lord roared, his voice filled with resentment and anger.

Ling Xuan's gaze was sharp and his expression was cold. He retorted without fear: "In my opinion, your Divine Eye Clan is the real culprit and deserves to die! Your clan, relying on the presence of seven of the strongest beings in the universe, has been running rampant in this cosmic sea, acting as if you are the masters of the Echoing Universe. You are utterly infamous!"

As he spoke, Ling Xuan swung the Heaven-Slaying Blade in his hand, and a crimson blade aura several light-years long slashed out, like a sharp blade that split the heavens and the earth. Wherever it passed, the seawater was instantly evaporated, turning into a surging white column of steam that shot straight into the sky. Even the seemingly stable void was plowed with deep, twisted cracks by this terrifying blade aura, like hideous scars.

"Your favorite thing is to provoke the strong of all races—if you take a fancy to a strong person's treasure, you will seize it by force under the guise of a 'challenge.' Once the other party resists even slightly and refuses to submit obediently, you will immediately label them as 'disobeying the Divine Eye Clan' or 'provoking the dignity of our race,' and then you will relentlessly hunt them down until you have eradicated their entire race and wiped them out!"

"I've only just arrived in the Cosmic Sea, and I've already been targeted by Lord An Yong of your Divine Eye Clan." Ling Xuan's eyes surged with killing intent, like solidified black flames. He wielded the Heaven-Slaying Blade with increasing ferocity, each swing creating ripples of crimson energy that spread wildly in all directions. Wherever it went, space shattered layer by layer like a broken mirror. "A mere fourth-order Cosmic Lord dares to question why I, the Emperor, am not afraid. How utterly laughable."

At this moment, his divine power surged, and a layer of faint golden runes appeared on his body. As the runes flowed, the sounds of dragon roars and tiger howls could be faintly heard, adding to his imperial aura.

The Supreme Being of the Ultimate Path is equivalent to a fifth-order Universe Lord, whose divine power is ten thousand times that of a Universe Lord, and whose secret techniques are also at the fifth-order level. Only then can their combat power be comparable.

But this is just an ordinary Supreme Emperor, which is only at the level of one gene.

Ke Lingxuan is an Extreme Emperor with ten thousand times the gene, which means his divine power level is equivalent to ten thousand times that of a Universe Lord, or one hundred million times the power of a Universe Lord.

This divine power is already close to that of a true god in the void.

Although the primordial universe would suppress Ling Xuan's divine power, he could only unleash the divine power of a universe master at the perfect genetic level.

However, it could not suppress his physical defense, which was also close to the level of a Void True God.

This seventh-level attack was nothing to him.

With the protection of the supreme treasure armor, his losses were almost entirely due to the burning of divine power.

However, the "Explosive Flame" secret technique is a divine power burning technique. It burns divine power with extremely high efficiency and almost no waste. This resulted in Ling Xuan's consumption being extremely low, and he was not afraid of his opponent at all.

"You're just a newly ascended ruler of the universe. An Yong doesn't know how powerful you are. Haven't you already learned your lesson?" The Seventh True Lord was shocked, but still tried to remain calm. He never expected that this human Flame Emperor would be so domineering, opening his mouth without putting the ruler of the universe in his eyes, clearly considering himself the strongest in the universe.

Under Ling Xuan's relentless and fierce attacks, he had no choice but to burn his divine power and go all out. Even without the supreme treasure armor, he could not ignore this seventh-tier attack. The nine ring-shaped light patterns around his body shone brightly, and the one-eyed phantom in each light pattern flickered wildly, releasing blinding beams of light in an attempt to resist Ling Xuan's offensive. Even so, he was still forced to retreat continuously by the surging crimson sword energy.

"What a joke! If it were another newly ascended universe ruler, wouldn't they really fall victim to your Divine Eye's poisonous hand? Your Divine Eye Clan is simply the number one cancer in the universe." Ling Xuan persisted, his words filled with disgust and disdain for the Divine Eye Clan.

He stomped his foot and shot towards the Seventh True Lord like an arrow, his speed so great that he left a long, distorted spatial afterimage behind him.

(End of this chapter)