Swallowing the Stars, Hu Yanbo's Pre-Godhood

The danger and value of cosmic secrets vary drastically depending on their location.

Universe secret realms located within the territory of human races, or completely controlled by humans, have often been cleaned, modified, or even partially refined by powerful human beings, greatly reducing their danger and making their environment relatively stable. They may even allow some vassal races to settle and reproduce within them.

Of course, the rare treasures and special resources in these secret realms have long been plundered or are under the orderly management of human groups, and their value is limited.

But 'public secret places' are completely different!

They are usually located at the borders of the territories of major races, or in the vast, unclaimed deserts of the universe, and are not under the absolute control of any single power.

These secret realms are characterized by chaotic rules, harsh and unpredictable environments, powerful and bloodthirsty native creatures, and, most fatally, they are open to the strongest of all factions, making them veritable "lawless lands" in the universe.

Although countless powerful individuals have explored the public secret realm over the long years, the most core and precious treasures have long been looted.

However, it will continue to generate some resources that are very attractive to immortal gods, causing various forces to fight each other year after year. The danger level is not much less than that of the battlefield outside the domain!

Hu Yanbo ended his conversation with the True King of Emptiness, and his consciousness immediately sank into the virtual universe network, connecting to the internal database of the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance, and began searching for all information about the 'Mysterious Realm of the Dark'.

A massive stream of data flooded into his consciousness, and the general situation of this secret realm quickly became clear:

The Mysterious Realm of Ghosts is a buffer zone located at the border between human territory and the demon race's camp. It was discovered by both sides simultaneously during a large-scale cosmic energy tide about a million epochs ago.

Due to its sensitive location and extremely strange internal environment, neither side was able to fully control it, and it eventually evolved into a typical "public secret place".

Currently, the resources that are continuously produced in the secret realm and attract competition from various forces mainly include top-quality auxiliary materials such as Ghost Crystals, Dark God Flowers, and Void Marrow.

The target of the mission for both the Radiant Marquis and the Rock Marquis is these top-quality auxiliary materials.

Huyanbo quickly scanned the intelligence, his gaze finally settling on the most crucial piece of information:

Due to the restrictions of the secret realm's rules and the level of resource value, the true forms of cosmic Venerable-level powerhouses rarely enter the core area of ​​the Netherworld Mystic Realm. Currently, the active powerhouses within the secret realm are mainly immortal gods from various forces, including many who have been granted the title of King-level Immortal…

"The strongest enemy is the Immortal King..." After reading this message, Hu Yanbo felt instantly reassured!

When a newly ascended immortal is confronted by a peak-level immortal, the difference in strength often reaches a hundred or a thousand times!

Given this disparity, if a peak-level King-level expert were willing to burn some divine power, the immortal body of a beginner-level King-level expert would be completely annihilated, with little chance of escape and a near certain death.

But the higher ranks of being granted the title of King are completely different!

Their divine bodies are more than 3 times stronger than the power of a realm lord, they have a deeper grasp of the laws, more diverse means of survival, and more exquisite secret techniques.

Even if he were to encounter the peak of the King-level realm, although he would still be no match for him, his immortal body would not be annihilated, so he could almost be said to be fearless.

Unless we encounter something even more terrifying.

But those that exist...

Hu Yanbo quickly scanned the intelligence and understood what was going on.

Those beings have long since transcended the 'sustainable output' resources (such as Ghost Crystals and Dark God Flowers) within the Mystic Realm.

"It seems that once I leave Chaos City and advance my understanding of the laws to the advanced level of King, the danger level of the secret realm will be greatly reduced."

"In fact...there's great potential!"

Having made up his mind, Hu Yanbo immediately submitted an application to leave the initial universe to the Chaos City management system through the virtual universe network.

As the core holy land of the human race, Chaos City has extremely strict entry and exit management, and every trip requires review and approval from the virtual universe system.

The application was approved quickly.

Hu Yanbo boarded a standard-issue spaceship used by Chaos City and slowly departed from the ancient city that hovered at the entrance to the primordial universe, heading towards the original universe.

Just as the spaceship departed Chaos City and was about to enter the passage—

Deep within Chaos City lies the 'Chaos Ruins,' a place that seems to bear the weight of endless time and space, the origin and end of all things.

A pair of eyes, seemingly containing the entire cycle of birth and death of the universe, slowly opened, their gaze seemingly piercing through layers of space, lingering briefly on that inconspicuous spaceship.

"This little guy... is quite interesting." A calm, unwavering voice echoed through the ruins.

"Having been observed for nearly a thousand years, he acts decisively, progresses at an alarming rate, and possesses a remarkably tenacious character... He doesn't seem like a pawn planted by a foreign race."

After all, if alien spies were to have this opportunity to enter Chaos City, wouldn't they try every means to remain hidden for a long time, hoping to take root here and steal more secrets?

He, having been here for less than a thousand years, was in a hurry to leave, and his motive was quite pure... to rescue his old friend?

A faint, almost imperceptible hint of inquiry flashed in his eyes before returning to silence.

"That's enough."

"He's just a little guy who's been granted a title; even if he's somewhat special, he's not worth paying too much attention to."

The Lord of Chaos slowly withdrew his gaze and closed it again.

For an being like him, the rise and fall of the human race over billions of years has seen countless geniuses and prodigies, but very few have truly grown up and reached the realm of a cosmic venerable.

Hu Yanbo's performance was certainly impressive, but that was about it.

If it weren't for the fact that his rate of progress was far too extraordinary among the countless immortals who came to Chaos City, he wouldn't have even cast a glance at him.

Of course, this fleeting glance left a faint but positive impression on the Lord of Chaos City—a promising, loyal, and seemingly mysterious little immortal fellow.

That's it.

Huyanbo was completely unaware of all of this.

The spaceship successfully entered the time-distorted passage and then smoothly entered the original universe.

Without pausing, Hu Yanbo's spaceship immediately followed the received guidance signal and headed towards the Divine Kingdom Central Teleportation Site inside the headquarters of the Virtual Universe Company.

A moment later, the scene before him shocked even Huyan Bo, who had already been granted the title of king.

It was an incredibly vast man-made void, in which countless enormous and intricately structured metal platforms floated. Each platform emitted strong spatial fluctuations and was inscribed with unimaginably complex laws and runes.

Countless streaks of light rose and fell and shuttled between these platforms; these were powerful beings from the human race and even its vassal races, traveling through here to every corner of the universe.