Swallowing the Stars: Heart of the Martial God

Chapter 185 Accepting a Disciple
In the scene, a young man in crimson armor is fighting against several geniuses of the same level. Flames in his hands are like living things, sometimes turning into a raging inferno, sometimes condensing into sharp flame blades. Every move reveals a composure and ruthlessness that is beyond his years.

“Meng Yan?” Ling Xuan frowned slightly as he looked at the boy in the picture. He had no recollection of this name. But then he thought that most of the top experts in later generations, except for a few like Ke Di, were referred to by their titles, and their real names were rarely mentioned.

He suddenly remembered that there was a Nightmare King in later generations, whose surname seemed to be Meng, and his father was the Fire Venerable, who was known as a genius among the human race.

Could this Meng Yan be the Fire Venerable in his youth?
"How about it? This kid's not bad, is he?" Venerable Zhulong looked at him expectantly.

Ling Xuan snapped out of his thoughts, nodded slowly, and said with a hint of approval, "I have always trusted your judgment, teacher. This child's talent is indeed rare."

"Hahaha, all that's left for this old man is his vision." Venerable Zhulong laughed heartily, a mixture of pride and relief on his face.

His cultivation and strength had almost reached their peak. With his current status and position, even alien races would avoid him when he went on adventures. Moreover, he was not one to bully the weak, so his life gradually lost some of its fun. Therefore, he focused his energy on cultivating young people, preparing to strive for the title of the best eye in the universe.

Ling Xuan watched his animated expression and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

"Puff, send me an email to Meng Yan and ask him if he wants to become his apprentice." Ling Xuan pointed to the catgirl sitting playfully on his shoulder.

"Yes, Master. Meng Yan will be overjoyed to hear that Master is willing to take on a disciple!" Puff said with a smile as she skillfully operated the email sending system, her nimble tail swaying gently in the air, creating a faint shadow.

As Ling Xuan's first intelligent life form, Ling Xuan intended to nurture it well, at least to the point where it would reach the level of a universe master, just like the original intelligent life form.

If possible, he still planned to bring this little assistant to the Origin Continent. With the capabilities of intelligent life forms, he could entrust many things to the assistant, and since intelligent life forms are completely loyal to him, he didn't need to worry about the assistant's betrayal.

He has now been cultivated to the level of a cosmic venerable.

"Hahaha, Senior Xujin, you were in such a hurry to go out and have some fun, now you've missed out on this good disciple." Ling Xuan couldn't help but laugh smugly, thinking of the Lord Xujin who had been urging him to take over the position every day since he learned that Ling Xuan had returned to the Primal Universe.

In the original story, Venerable Fiery was the other party's prized student and the disciple with the greatest potential to become the Lord of the Universe.

"Yes, yes, that old fellow Xu Jin has tried to steal a chicken but lost his rice instead." Venerable Zhulong also laughed, thinking that Ling Xuan meant that if Lord Xu Jin were still stationed at the Giant Axe Arena headquarters, then Meng Yan would definitely belong to him.

Giant Axe Arena, Giant Axe Secret Realm.

At this moment, Meng Yan, who had just crossed the primordial Tongtian Mountain, a cosmic-level peak, was drinking with his teacher in the virtual universe.

This time, breaking through the primordial Tongtian Mountain, a cosmic-level feat, will definitely attract the attention of the truly powerful among the human race.

Although conquering the primordial Tongtian Mountain, which is at the cosmic level, is just the beginning, the true benchmark of geniuses that emerges only once every tens of millions of eras is conquering the primordial Tongtian Mountain, which is at the realm master level.

After all, the universe is vast, and many geniuses are amazing in the early stages, but as their level increases, those who can maintain an astonishing rate of progress are extremely rare.

But at this moment, Meng Yan's eyes still couldn't hide the youthful spirit, and his fingertips gently caressed the rim of the wine glass.

"Meng Yan, have you decided which cosmic venerable one you want to become your disciple?" King Cang Yan sat opposite him, looking at his disciple with gentle eyes.

As Meng Yan's first teacher after entering Chaos City, Cang Yan Wang was an invincible king-level existence and a grandmaster-level figure in the Chaos Stele of Ultimate Flame.

King Cangyan was very satisfied with this disciple. Although Mengyan was also very impressive when he first came to Chaos City, he was still much less impressive than the Flame Emperor and the Lord of Blazing Sun from tens of millions of years ago. After all, the Lord of Blazing Sun had cultivated for more than two hundred years and passed the Trial Tower, while Mengyan had cultivated for nearly a hundred years but stopped at the first level of the seventh Trial Tower.

The other Emperor Yan goes without saying; he was beyond the comprehension of humankind.

Back then, many grandmasters in Chaos City who studied the Chaos Stele of the Flame Inquiry wanted to take Meng Yan as their disciple, but in the end, it was King Cang Yan who was more skilled and took this promising talent under his wing.

In just over a thousand years, Meng Yan has successfully crossed the primordial Tongtian Mountain, a feat that has truly surprised him.

Meng Yan smiled and took a sip of wine, his tone calm: "It's not decided yet. I've received emails from 96 Universe Venerables in the past few days asking me to take them on as disciples. However, I don't know much about their areas of expertise and their teaching styles. I was just about to ask my teacher for some advice."

As he spoke, he used his smart assistant to hand a list of venerable figures to King Cangyan.

King Cangyan took the list, tapped his fingertips lightly in the air, and patiently explained, "Do you know that even Cosmic Venerables are divided into strong and weak, just like King-level experts are divided into beginner, advanced, peak, limit, and invincible? Most of these 96 Venerables are advanced Cosmic Venerables. Among them, this Golden Axe Venerable is the personal disciple of the Chaos City Lord and already possesses the strength of a Cosmic Overlord..."

Just as Cangyan Wang was carefully analyzing the list, Mengyan's smart communicator suddenly emitted an urgent notification sound, and the built-in smart assistant was so excited that its voice trembled: "Master! Master! New email! It's a super important email about accepting disciples! You have to take a look! With this person here, those previous Universe Venerables are nothing!"

Meng Yan frowned slightly, feeling both amused and exasperated.

His AI assistant is usually so composed, why is it acting so strangely today?
This unusual behavior also aroused his curiosity: whose email was it that could make the smart assistant so alarmed?
He raised his hand and opened his inbox. When the words "Sender: Emperor Yan" came into view, Meng Yan slammed the wine glass in his hand onto the table with a "bang," spilling most of the wine. He froze on the spot as if he had been frozen in place, his pupils suddenly contracting.

"This... how is this possible?" Meng Yan muttered to himself, his voice trembling uncontrollably, and his breathing becoming rapid.

He almost held his breath, his fingertips trembling as he opened the email; every word felt like a hammer blow to his heart.

His fingers trembled as he read, word by word, his heart pounding faster with each word.

He abruptly stood up from his seat, causing the chair to slide back several feet, scraping the ground with a screeching sound.

He turned to look at the Azure Flame King, his eyes filled with ecstatic joy and excitement, his voice trembling: "Teacher! No need to choose anymore! We don't need to consider which cosmic venerable one to take as our master! It's the Flame Emperor... the Flame Emperor wants to take me as his disciple!"

The Azure Flame King was still puzzled by his disciple's outburst, but when he heard the words "Flame Emperor," the wine cup in his hand fell to the ground and shattered.

He stood up abruptly, walked a few steps to Meng Yan's side, stared intently at the email content on the communicator, and said in a hoarse voice filled with disbelief, "You... what did you say? Emperor Yan? The Emperor Yan who created the Chaos Stele of Ultimate Flame?"

After receiving a strong nod from Meng Yan, Cang Yan Wang felt his mind go blank.

He had lived for nearly ten million epochs and witnessed the rise of countless geniuses, but he never imagined that his disciple would gain the favor of the Flame Emperor!

It should be noted that since the rise of Emperor Yan, he has never publicly accepted any disciples, not even the top geniuses within the human race have ever had such an honor.

"Teacher, don't get agitated. I'm just a disciple in name only." Meng Yan gradually calmed down.

Although he was only a nominal disciple, Meng Yan was already very excited.

That was Emperor Yan, the creator of the Chaos Stele of Ultimate Flame. He might not fully understand the significance of those super-powerful humans, but he couldn't possibly be unaware of the Chaos Stele he had been constantly studying and cultivating.

Although he knew little about the fame and deeds of Emperor Yan, the fact that the other party could erect ten Chaos Steles in one go, which was the highest treasure inherited by mankind, showed that the other party's strength was terrifyingly powerful.

Moreover, if one becomes the disciple of this Yan Emperor, then in the future, if one has any doubts about comprehending the Chaos Stele, one can directly seek clarification from the creator of the Chaos Stele himself.

King Cangyan took a deep breath, forcibly calming his turbulent emotions. He patted Mengyan on the shoulder, his tone full of relief and excitement: "Even being a disciple in name is already quite remarkable. You are still young and do not know how powerful this Emperor Yan is. Although my Giant Axe Arena was created by the great founder of the Giant Axe, it is now under the management of this Emperor Yan."

As the personal disciple of the Giant Axe Founder, Emperor Yan's strength is comparable to that of the Giant Axe Founder. Within our human race, his strength and status are undoubtedly among the highest.

Meng Yan nodded vigorously; it wasn't that he looked down on the status of a nominal disciple.

"Hurry up, what are you waiting for? Reply to the email quickly, don't keep Emperor Yan waiting." King Cangyan patted Mengyan on the shoulder and urged him.

Meng Yan then came to his senses, quickly sat down, and typed rapidly on the screen, each word written with utmost solemnity: "Your Majesty Emperor Yan, your disciple Meng Yan wishes to become your disciple, follow you from now on, cultivate diligently, and live up to your expectations!"

The moment he clicked send, Meng Yan felt his blood boiling. He knew that from this moment on, his life would enter a completely new chapter.

At the Giant Axe Martial Arts Arena headquarters, Ling Xuan, having received Meng Yan's reply, sent another email outlining the conditions for becoming a personal disciple before closing the email.

"Having acquired a good disciple, I shall take my leave now." Venerable Zhulong's figure vanished in an instant.

Ling Xuan shook his head and continued cultivating.

……

Deep within the Zerg territory, the beautiful garden adorned with countless exotic flowers and herbs and tended year-round by the Zerg queens now appears somewhat different.

In the garden that was once full of graceful figures, there is now a huge rock half-buried in the fertile soil. Its body is covered with natural patterns, which is out of place with the surrounding colorful scenery, yet strangely blends into this world.

Suddenly, the boulder in the center of the garden began to tremble without warning. The surface pebbles crumbled away, and with a dull "crack" sound, the boulder slowly stood up, transforming into a stone giant over a thousand feet tall.

On the rough stone surface, ancient secret patterns shimmered faintly, which was Ling Xuan's Xuan Gu clone.

"Your Majesty, I've noticed a constant worry on your brow lately. Is there anything that Xuan Gu can do to ease your mind?" the stone giant spoke, his voice deep and steady, like the clashing of rocks.

He had been lying low among the Zerg for tens of millions of years, living and working alongside the Zerg Queens, and had long since figured out the temperaments of these powerful alien beings.

To be fair, these Zerg queens have treated him quite well. If the Zerg are willing to submit to humans in the future, it might give them a chance to survive.

After all, the Zerg's need for territory is far less than that of other races, so keeping them around wouldn't be a big problem for humanity.

"Xuan Gu, you're awake?" Several powerful insect queens gathered around upon hearing the voice. They were all cosmic rulers of the insect race, and their gazes toward Xuan Gu carried a hint of familiarity.

Since the Xuan Gu clone didn't have any missions, Ling Xuan mostly kept it in a dormant state, which suited the habits of rock-type life forms and never aroused the suspicion of the insectoids.

"During this seclusion of tens of millions of epochs, I have created many powerful techniques." Xuan Gu stretched his stiff stone arm and said in a deep voice, "Empress, you still haven't told me what difficulties you have encountered? With my current combat power, I might not even lose a battle against the Flame Emperor."

Upon hearing this, the Zerg Queen frowned slightly, but did not think that Xuan Gu was exaggerating.

When Xuan Gu was at the Universe Venerable stage, he was able to withstand the Flame Emperor's attacks with his defensive secret techniques; now that he has broken through to the Universe Lord stage for tens of millions of epochs and has been in seclusion for many years, his strength must be unfathomable. Even she, the strongest of the insect race, is somewhat wary of him.

But the mystery and terror of Emperor Yan are far beyond those of ordinary universe masters—especially that unknown Heavenly Eye Secret Technique, which can even defeat the "Eternal True Mystery Technique" that the Divine Eye Clan is so proud of.

The Zerg Queen had personally witnessed the power of the "Eternal True Mystic Art": it was a trump card that the Divine Eye Clan would only use when facing some extremely powerful beings in the universe. Tens of millions of years ago, Kong Luo, the strongest being in the universe, perished under this secret art.

However, this powerful secret technique was utterly ineffective in the face of Emperor Yan's Heavenly Eye.

The three great gods were captured in one fell swoop, and even the God-Eye God had to bow his head and sue for peace.

This strength made her hesitant to confront humans head-on.

“Xuan Gu, we don’t need to confront Emperor Yan or humanity head-on.” The Zerg Queen slowly shook her head, her tone revealing a hint of clarity. “The universe is vast and boundless, and the Zerg don’t necessarily have to expand into human territory. Although the four races currently occupy the most precious territories in the universe, given the current situation, it is already a blessing to be able to preserve our existing territory.”

She had already figured it out: as long as she, the strongest being in the universe, lived, humanity would not dare to launch a full-scale attack on the Zerg in the primordial universe; plus, there was Xuan Gu, her "ally."

If Xuan Gu can successfully break through to become the strongest in the universe, the Zerg will be able to rely on the core territory to develop in other directions and avoid conflict with humans.

At that time, humanity's energy will be focused on the demon race and the machine race, allowing the insect race to quietly grow stronger.

Since the Zerg population is small, their need for territory is not great. They can lie low and wait for an opportunity to turn the tide.

“Emperor Yan’s reputation is indeed great, but Xuan Gu is not afraid of him, and the Empress need not be afraid either.” Xuan Gu’s clone nodded honestly, his stone face showing little emotion. “I should also go and explore the Cosmic Sea. After I make a few moves there and gain some fame, I’m sure it will give the Empress some confidence.”

The Zerg Queen nodded upon hearing this and did not stop her.

One cannot become a top expert by simply cultivating hard. Xuan Gu's strength is already enough to establish himself in the universe sea. Going out to gain experience is actually a good thing.

Moreover, if Xuan Gu can make a name for himself in the Cosmic Sea, it will let humanity know that the Zerg are not pushovers, and they will turn their attention to the Demon Race and the Mechanical Race, thus relieving the pressure on the Zerg.

"Be careful on this journey," the Zerg Queen cautioned. "I will have Bilong accompany you; she is familiar with the rules of the cosmic sea and will explain the relevant matters to you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Xuan Gu's clone clasped his hands in thanks, but a barely perceptible glint flashed deep in his stone eyes.

Based on the token and map left by the Lord of Xuangu, Zhouheng's clone has already ventured quite a distance into the cosmic ship. There are no powerful figures along this route, so it will take a lot of time to explore and it will be difficult to return. The Xuangu clone is going to the cosmic sea to find powerful figures to fight and earn some treasures for himself.

If you're going to train disciples, you have to prepare some suitable treasures for them. What's more, he also has three good-for-nothing sons who have given him a bunch of good-for-nothing offspring.

(End of this chapter)