Swallowing the Stars, Hu Yanbo's Pre-Godhood

The Mantis King's compound eyes fixed on Huyan Bo, and his voice rang out again, carrying an undeniable air of authority:

"Is that divine messenger's inheritance crystal on you?"

Upon hearing this, Hu Yanbo's calm smile did not diminish but instead deepened.

"you guess!"

Hu Yanbo knew that no matter what he said, whether it was bluffing or a frank admission, since the King of the Mantis had personally descended, he would not hesitate or stop because of any of his words.

Whether the Inheritance Crystal is present or not will have no impact on the upcoming thunderous strike.

The two sides are opposing camps, and they are mortal enemies when they meet.

The Mantis King's cold, compound eyes narrowed slightly, and the surrounding space seemed to ripple because of this slight tightening of his gaze.

It clearly did not expect the other party to give such a mocking answer.

But it did not get angry. At its level, its will is already as firm as a rock and it will not be easily provoked by words.

The Mantis King's complex compound eyes flickered constantly, instantly weighing various possibilities.

Logically speaking, after a hundred years, such a precious inheritance crystal would most likely have been exchanged for a more substantial opportunity to inherit a divine general's legacy, provided the recipient has a sect or connections behind them. The possibility of keeping it on their person is indeed very small.

but--

The human in front of us is only a high-ranking king. What if he's so stupid that we haven't dealt with him yet?

Even if there's only a one in ten thousand chance, it's worth it for them to personally confirm it!

Moreover, the opponent was a genius from the human camp, and the fact that he killed a human powerhouse was enough to justify his actions!

These thoughts flashed through the mind of the Mantis King, and his killing intent instantly surged to its peak.

"Hmph, sharp-tongued." The Mantis King's voice had completely lost its last trace of warmth, leaving only pure killing intent.

"Once I tear your divine body apart and plunder your world ring, you will know!"

Before the words were even finished, its foremost blade, which seemed to embody all the concepts of "cutting" in the universe, casually slashed forward!

Tear—!

There was no earth-shattering energy eruption, but an extreme, sharp intent that seemed capable of tearing everything apart suddenly descended!

Space was silently sliced ​​open like a sheet of paper, and a crack so minute it was almost imperceptible pierced through Huyanbo with a speed beyond comprehension!

fast!

It's so fast that it exceeds the reaction limits of most immortal kings!

However, at the very instant that the Mantis King's arm blade twitched and his killing intent locked onto the target—

Hu Yanbo's powerful soul perception had already issued a frantic warning!

"Lotus in the Void!"

He didn't have time to make any unnecessary movements. All his will and all his ethereal divine power roared and poured into the killing technique in an instant!

A deadly secret technique more powerful than ever before!

hum!

A black lotus flower, its edges shimmering with an illusory black light, both eerie and deadly, bloomed out of thin air near the head of the Mantis King. As its petals unfurled, the terrifying power of the lotus heart, capable of annihilating the very essence of the soul, instantly locked onto the Mantis King's consciousness!

This is a lose-lose, life-or-death fighting style!

You can do your thing, I'll do mine!

Almost at the same moment the black lotus bloomed—

Tear—!

That extremely sharp, pitch-black crack, seemingly capable of slicing through the very essence of the universe, swept past Huyanbo's divine body without any hindrance!

"puff--!"

Hu Yanbo was struck hard and spat out a mouthful of golden divine blood. He flew backward like a kite with a broken string.

A casual strike from the pinnacle of kingship possesses terrifying power!

But at the same time!

The Void Lotus bloomed solidly on the head of the Mantis King!

This caused the Mantis King's pursuit to abruptly halt!

A sharp, cold, soul-piercing pain and shock suddenly came over it, causing its flawless attack rhythm and mental operation to freeze and be disrupted for a moment.

Like an incredibly sharp knife, as it strikes its target, the blade is also slightly bumped by an equally sharp nail. Although this does not diminish its sharpness, it disrupts its smooth, flowing trajectory.

This feeling... is utterly repulsive!

"Hmph!" The Mantis King let out a deep, cold snort. His divine power surged, and the power that had invaded his soul was forcibly dispelled and suppressed by his immense divine power and strong will.

Its compound eyes locked onto Huyan Bo, who was flying backward, and its killing intent intensified.

"Such a powerful soul attack..." The Mantis King's voice grew even colder! "If I were to allow you to advance further, countless powerful members of my demon race would suffer!"

Over the long course of history, it has not been without its encounters with powerful kings who specialize in the path of the soul.

While those attacks involving soul attacks are indeed bizarre, powerful, and frightening, their attacks are more like a vast ocean, using overwhelming soul power to crush, impact, or confuse with illusions.

But the attack from this human king before us... is completely different!

That eerie black lotus's attack method was closer to an extreme form of annihilation and dissection. It did not rely on brute force, but was like an incomparably precise and sharp scalpel, born specifically to destroy the essence of the soul.

This attack method is purer, more lethal, and... more sophisticated!

The Mantis King even felt that the soul attack techniques used by its old friends who were at the peak of the Soul Path King were not as exquisite or as pure in their annihilation as the black lotus in front of it!

"This human has quite the talent in the way of the soul?!" A thought flashed through the mind of the Mantis King.

"He's only at the advanced level of the King rank! If he were to reach the peak of the King rank, with such terrifying soul attack techniques..."

The thought of that possibility sent a chill through the ruthless Mantis King, a chill it was unwilling to admit!

If it weren't Huyan Bo, a high-ranking king, standing here today, but someone at the peak of the kingship…

The result would probably be far more than just dispelling a trace of soul-piercing pain!

There can be no more reservations!

The Mantis King decisively unleashed his divine power!

Although he became a top-tier powerhouse at the limit of the King level thanks to the triple gene advantage brought by his royal bloodline!

However, they are far inferior to those who have mastered the Amplification Secret Technique or created their own peak-level combat secret techniques.

With their divine power burning, their attack power increased a thousandfold, enough to kill a peak-level King in a direct confrontation!

But I can't do that!

However, the human named "Bo" in front of us is only at the high level of the King-level, and his defensive capabilities are far inferior to those of a true peak King-level!

"Ink Prison!" the Mantis King transmitted telepathically. "Once I kill this human king, immediately lift the spatial seal, and we'll leave!"

"Alright." The dark green figure that had been hidden in the void behind him—the Ink Prison King—responded immediately, his tone carrying a hint of solemnity.

He hadn't expected that a single probing exchange would force the Mantis King to immediately resort to burning divine power.

He was invited by the Mantis King to help seal off the space. The Mantis King had mastered the teleportation and strangulation techniques within the laws of space.

But what he, the King of Ink Prison, comprehended was sealing and strangulation.

"Burn!"

Without further hesitation, the Mantis King unleashed his vast divine power, which, like a star thrown into a black hole, began to burn wildly!

boom!!!

An aura a hundred or even a thousand times more terrifying than before suddenly erupted from its body!

The eerie light on its four arm blades became incredibly dazzling, as if it had transformed into four primordial blades capable of cutting through chaos. The space it touched was no longer torn apart, but silently annihilated, turning into the most fundamental stream of particles!

"Human, you have every reason to be proud that you could force me to burn my divine power!" The voice of the Mantis King seemed to come from the deepest abyss.

"Use your demise to make up for my losses today! I hope the wealth in your world ring will not disappoint me!"

It locked onto Huyanbo, who was regaining his footing!

It aims to strike with overwhelming force, delivering a fatal blow before the opponent can unleash any last-ditch defenses!

Then immediately flee far away, relocate to the divine realm, and avoid retaliation from the powerful members of the human camp!

Looking at the Mantis King in the distance, whose divine power was instantly ignited, Hu Yanbo knew that he was about to face the real challenge!

coming!

.....

In the distance, as the arm blades rose, the massive body of the Mantis King arched slightly, and the next moment—

boom!

The void beneath its feet suddenly shattered!

His figure vanished instantly, a terrifying surge unleashed purely from physical strength!

With four arm blades in front, like four parallel, indestructible cosmic drills, they tore through space, annihilated all energy particles in their path, and with extreme destructive power, pierced straight at Huyanbo!

This devastating attack was incredibly fast; almost at the same instant the Mantis King's figure disappeared, the tips of the four deadly arm blades had already pierced the space in front of Huyan Bo.

That extreme sharpness even caused his divine body's skin to feel a tearing pain!

In that one in a billion instant, any hesitation or fear vanished into nothingness.

Hu Yanbo's pupils suddenly contracted to their maximum, all his thoughts and emotions compressed into a single, primal, and frantic idea—

"You want my life? Then come and get it!!"

Hu Yanbo let out a roar that came from the depths of his soul, almost a howl!

A strange black lotus bloomed instantly between him and the Mantis King, attempting to directly attack his soul core and force him to defend!

however--

laugh--!

The black lotus containing the power to annihilate souls did not cause the Blade Mantis King to pause in the slightest. Its destructive spikes continued to strike Huyan Bo's divine body!

Boom! ...

A terrifying impact erupted instantly!

Hu Yanbo was blasted away!

fortunately!

The G9-grade metal armor he wore, which he had obtained from the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance and was meticulously crafted by the Master of Mystic Runes and the Master of Weapon Forging, was now displaying its value!

The defensive runes on the armor surface instantly shone brightly, absorbing most of the impact of the attack!

Even so, the terrifying shockwave transmitted through the armor still fiercely penetrated Huyanbo's divine body!

*Pfft!* *Bang!*

Huyanbo's divine body trembled violently, then exploded, transforming into a sky full of immortal divine power!

The next moment, countless divine powers rapidly converged and reassembled Huyanbo's divine body.

That one move consumed nearly 10% of the immortal divine power!

If it were a slightly inferior suit of armor and a slightly inferior secret rune, this attack would probably have been enough to damage his divine body by more than 20%!

At this moment, however, Hu Yanbo was not worried at all about the annihilation of his divine body. His consciousness became clearer because of this life-or-death crisis!

In that brief moment of being sent flying backward, all my past insights into the "Lotus of the Void," my understanding of the laws of space, and even the profound mysteries of the soul within the "Seal of the Abyss"...

Countless thoughts and countless laws and secret patterns collided, shattered, and then reassembled in an unprecedented way in his almost exploding mind!

"Wrong! The previous usage was incorrect!" A sudden realization cleaved through the fog like lightning!

In that brief exchange, he keenly noticed an extremely subtle detail:

The Mantis King poured most of his will and power into the Ultimate Four Blades. Although its soul defense was still strong, it was not invincible!

In order to support that violent physical attack, at the moment when its soul defense is condensed to the extreme and launched, there will be an extremely brief and subtle "flowing stagnation"!

Just as when a person concentrates all their strength and spirit into delivering a fatal blow with their right fist, their left hand will inevitably show a slight, instinctive lapse in blocking!

"As long as my Void Lotus can advance further, I will be able to attack his soul at the same time he annihilates my divine body."

The immense terror of life and death is also the best catalyst for spiritual practice!

However, before Hu Yanbo could think further, the terrifying figure of the Mantis King tore through the void once again, and the second, third, and fourth waves of attacks came one after another like a destructive tide!

The Mantis King burned with divine power, launching wave after wave of attacks, giving Huyan Bo no chance to regroup.

Its goal is to completely crush and annihilate this troublesome human being with absolute power and speed!

"boom!"

"Bang!"

"Snap—!"

Hu Yanbo's divine body was repeatedly shattered and exploded by the terrifying four-bladed thrusts during the constant collisions!

With each reorganization of his divine body, his aura plummeted at a visible speed!

20%... 30%... 40%...

But each clash was like the most powerful hammer, relentlessly striking his deeper understanding of "Lotus of the Void" and soul attacks!

Huyanbo is being beaten, bleeding, and heading towards his demise...

But his understanding of the secret techniques is transforming and sublimating at an astonishing speed!

From initially only being able to vaguely sense it, to gradually getting clearer...

From attempting a direct confrontation to learning how to deflect and infiltrate...

From a complete lotus flower to countless tiny, all-pervasive dust particles of annihilation…

finally--

When his divine body was damaged by more than 50%, and his strength was less than 10%, facing the sixth destructive thrust of the Mantis King—

Hu Yanbo raised his arm and gently pointed at the four blades that were attacking him.

hum…

The Mantis King, who was charging forward with overwhelming force, suddenly froze!

The cold, ruthless look in his compound eyes was instantly replaced by an unbelievable horror and excruciating pain!

It sensed a black lotus flower blooming directly and silently within its own divine body!

How is this possible?!

Its powerful soul defense technique and the violent energy barrier formed by burning divine power seemed to be useless!

The birth of that black lotus completely ignored all external defenses, as if it grew directly from within its soul!

"Whoa—!!!"

The Mantis King let out a howl!

That perfect charging stance collapsed instantly, and he even had to forcibly interrupt the attack, staggering and sliding backward a great distance in the void!

In that instant, 1% of its soul was permanently annihilated!

With the transformed and even more bizarre and cunning "Lotus of the Void," Hu Yanbo, with only 10% of his strength remaining, actually managed to shake the limit of the King-Sealing Realm that burned divine power!

If he were at his peak right now...

The thought flashed through Hu Yanbo's mind instantly.

With just this transformed, peak secret technique, "Lotus of the Void," the Mantis King would absolutely not dare to engage him in close combat so recklessly!

It might even require constantly diverting a lot of attention to defend against these elusive soul attacks, and the initiative in the battle will change hands!

What made Hu Yanbo even happier was that at the very moment he created this miraculous victory, the pre-payment system in his mind also activated!

[Repayment conditions: 1. The life-or-death struggle has been completed. (Completed!)]

[Current number of advance payments available: 'One'!]