Swallowing the Stars: The cheat system only comes when I'm almost a god?

"Is there really no way at all?" the Bone Lord roared in frustration.

In the midst of this suffocating stalemate, a figure made of flowing mercury began to ripple slightly.

Lord of the Silver Stream.

This cosmic ruler, who was always known for his composure, now showed an unusual struggle on his smooth, mirror-like face.

He remained silent, but the mercury flowing within his body sometimes rushed and sometimes stagnated, revealing the intense struggle within him.

After a long while, when the oppressive atmosphere in the hall was almost frozen solid, he seemed to have made up his mind and slowly raised his head.

"Gentlemen..." the Lord of Silver Stream said in a hoarse voice, "Regarding the supreme treasure... I might know a little clue."

"What?" The Lord of Bones turned his head sharply.

The Lord of the Giant Rock looked astonished.

The wings of the Lord of Illusions ceased fluttering.

Even the star-like phantoms surrounding the Lord of Stars suddenly solidified, their gazes turning to the Lord of Silver Flow as if they were tangible.

Emperor Yan was also startled and looked at the Lord of Silver Stream.

Under the gaze of the crowd, the Lord of the Silver Stream's body trembled even more noticeably.

He slowly said, "1.5 billion epochs ago, when I was wandering in the cosmic sea, I accidentally stumbled into an extremely hidden spacetime rift."

There lingered the aura of ancient ruins from three eras before the dawn of time, and within them I obtained a fragmented inherited star map.

He paused, seemingly recalling something, and then continued, "The star map doesn't contain much information, but it's very clear in its direction. It marks a forbidden place called 'Tianliu Tomb' within the Qingfeng Realm."

The ancient information accompanying the star map suggests that it is highly likely the final resting place of a universe's strongest being known as "Heavenly Flowing God Lord."

"The Celestial Lord?" the Lord of Illusion exclaimed. "I heard this name when I was communicating with the powerful figures of the Purple Moon Holy Land. It is said that he was an extremely powerful lone wolf from three reincarnation eras ago, but he mysteriously disappeared in the end. The supreme treasure of the domain type that he possessed, called 'Qiqu Starlight Lake,' also disappeared with him."

"Exactly," the Lord of Silver Stream affirmed. "The information remaining in the star map suggests that this supreme treasure is very likely lost in the Heavenly Flow Tomb, but that place is extremely dangerous."

According to the star map, it is a distorted spacetime graveyard, filled with the shimmering light of annihilation, capable of corroding all divine power and souls. Only those with the strength of a fifth-order universe lord are qualified to explore it, and the risk of perishing is extremely high.

"I kept the star map a secret after obtaining it, originally intending to wait until my strength had improved further before seeking opportunities. But now..."

His voice lowered, filled with obvious reluctance and determination: "This opportunity should have been one of the greatest hopes for the future rise of our race."

But Lord Xinglan is right. The four peak clans are at their zenith, and the matter of the Chaos King has sounded an alarm.

If the Alliance no longer has the strongest person in the universe to lead it, let alone future opportunities, even its current survival will become increasingly difficult.

If the skin is gone, where will the hair attach?

The Lord of the Silver Stream looked at the Lord of the Stars, his tone becoming firm: "I am willing to offer this star map to the Alliance in exchange for the opportunity to invite the True God of the Northern Frontier to join. But!"

He then changed the subject, saying, "I have conditions."

"Speak." The Lord of Stars did not hesitate, his eyes shining brightly with starlight.

"First, if the True God of the Northern Frontier ultimately succeeds in obtaining the supreme treasure, the Alliance must compensate me with five peak treasures; even if he fails, he must compensate me with one peak treasure as a token of the value of this precious intelligence itself."

"Secondly, if any cosmic overlord of our race unfortunately falls in the future, they shall have priority in being resurrected."

When the conditions were presented, the expressions of the people in the hall varied.

Five supreme treasures are a huge fortune even for the alliance.

Priority revival rights involve the allocation of core resources.

But the Lord of Stars made his decision almost instantly: "Yes!"

She looked at the Lord of Silverflow, her voice filled with sincere admiration: "Silverflow, you should know that the value of a reliable piece of information pointing to the most powerful treasure cannot be measured by the standards of a top-tier treasure."

If the True God of the Northern Frontier successfully obtains this treasure, his combat power will undergo a qualitative change, and the status of the Star Alliance will also soar accordingly.

Your willingness to contribute at this moment is a sacrifice for the greater good of the League, and on behalf of the League, I thank you for your sacrifice.

"However..."

After a moment's thought, she proposed a compromise, taking into account the actual situation: "As you know, the reserves of top-tier treasures in the Alliance's treasury are indeed not abundant, and it would be extremely difficult to allocate five at once."

How about this: If the True God of the Northern Frontier officially joins the alliance, we can pay for three top-tier treasures first, and the remaining two will be converted into an equivalent amount of contribution points.

From this day forward, if you, the Flowing Silver Clan's cosmic overlord, need to be resurrected, the necessary resources will be borne by the Alliance, with costs calculated at 80% of the original amount, until these contribution points are exhausted. How about it?

The Lord of Silverflow remained silent for an even longer period.

The mercury-colored body shimmered with light, clearly indicating that it was engaged in complex calculations and weighing options.

Finally, he nodded: "As Lord Xinglan says."

He was not a greedy person. He knew that although the information about the most powerful treasures was precious, the hope of obtaining the treasures from such a perilous place as the Heavenly Flowing Tomb with only his own strength and that of the Flowing Silver Clan was slim.

In this situation, exchanging this for the overall strength of the alliance and the tangible protection of the race is the best option.

"Excellent!" The Lord of Stars exclaimed enthusiastically, surveying the crowd. "Does anyone have any objections?"

The Lord of Bones, the Lord of Giant Rocks, and the Lord of Illusion exchanged glances, then jointly declared: "No objections!"

Their gazes toward the Lord of Silverflow held a newfound respect.

Emperor Yan nodded slowly: "I second that proposal."

He was thinking of staying a little longer to see how things went. Since the Star Alliance was confident in recruiting one of the strongest beings in the universe, he wasn't in a hurry to become a traitor.

"In that case, the resolution is passed." The voice of the Lord of Stars regained its usual majesty: "Silver Stream, send the star map to me within three days, and I will have another audience with the True God of the Northern Frontier."

Inside the Hall of Ten Thousand Stars, the decision had been made, but the atmosphere did not relax; instead, it became even more solemn and tense.

The clues in the star chart not only represent hope, but also signify that they will make an unprecedented deal with a solitary, supreme being of the universe, and that they will face a perilous situation that even a fifth-order universe lord might not be able to return alive.

"Everyone," the Lord of Stars looked around at all the figures present again, his tone solemn, "the matter of the Star Chart must not be leaked in the slightest, except for the six of us in the hall today."

Before everything settles down, the Alliance must be more cautious in all its external actions. The matter of the Chaos King has provided us with an opportunity to adjust our stance.

The Bone Lord rubbed his bone armor together: "Xinglan, do you mean we should show weakness for now?"

"It's about concealing our strength and conserving our power!" The Lord of Stars shook his head to correct him. "The human race has gained a new Cosmic Venerable-level combatant with astonishing potential, and the demon race, the insect race, and the mechanical race have all suffered setbacks."

At this moment, their attention is mostly focused on internal adjustments and possible new developments by the human race, which is precisely the opportunity for us to temporarily fade out of their sight.

The order is to issue a directive that all exploration fleets and resource gathering teams located in areas adjacent to the territories of the four dominant races should reduce their operational areas and minimize friction; concessions may be made appropriately in disputes in some peripheral star systems.

The Lord of the Rocks' deep voice rang out: "This will likely cause unease among some races in the Alliance, who are already under immense pressure on the front lines."

"Reassure them," the Lord of Stars decided. "Tell them this is just a strategic adjustment, that the alliance will provide additional resources, and promise to prioritize their interests in future territorial expansions."

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.

Our true battlefield is in the cosmic sea, in the land of the true god of the northern frontier.

If he succeeds in acquiring Qiqu Starlight Lake and joining the alliance, what he concedes today will surely be reclaimed a hundredfold in the future!

Emperor Yan then slowly spoke up: "Lord Xinglan is absolutely right. My Yan God Clan has only recently moved into the Alliance's territory, and we can take this opportunity to consolidate our foundation. If necessary, I can also dispatch some forces to assist in border defense."

The Lord of Illusions gently fluttered his wings, scattering specks of illusory light: "Intelligence blocking and misleading also need to be strengthened. Perhaps we can secretly push things along and divert the focus of many forces to the conflict between the humans and the insectoids and machines."

They could even subtly release some embellished speculations, such as suspecting that the demon race played a dishonorable role in the Chaos King's affair, thus exacerbating their mutual distrust.

Lord Xinglan gave her an approving look: "This plan is excellent. You will coordinate the specific details with the intelligence department. Make sure it is done discreetly. We need to muddy the waters so that they have no time to spare."

"As you command." The Lord of Illusions nodded.

"Then, let's each do our own thing."

"Yes!" All the lords of the universe responded in unison, and their figures slowly faded away.

……

Time in the primordial universe never stops for any one person; in the blink of an eye, more than three hundred years have passed.

As all races in the universe focused their attention on the battle between the four most powerful races, an extremely astonishing piece of news suddenly emerged and instantly swept across the entire universe.

The "Northern Frontier Alliance," formed by reorganizing the Star Alliance and with the strongest lone warrior, the Northern Frontier True God, as its leader, has been established, uniting nearly a hundred universe lords!

The moment this news spread, it caused a huge uproar throughout the entire primordial universe, and countless powerful figures were shocked.

Thanks to the deliberate dissemination by the Northern Frontier Alliance, the news quickly reached the eight super powers in the Primal Universe. In addition to them, the Thorn Ring Alliance and the Nine Domains Alliance, among other second-tier powers, also became aware of it.

The establishment of the Northern Frontier Alliance may seem abrupt, but only a few core members know that behind it lies the painstaking planning and countless life-or-death struggles of the Lord of Stars over the past three hundred years.

Since the decision of the Myriad Stars Palace, the Lord of Stars has not appeared in public again.

She quietly disappeared into the shadows under the guise of a breakthrough in seclusion, but in reality, she devoted all her energy to two strategic paths:

First, he personally accompanied the True God of the Northern Frontier to the desolate realm of the Cosmic Sea Peak to search for the most powerful treasure; second, he secretly coordinated in the primordial universe to pave the way for the reorganization and expansion of the alliance.

The journey to Tianliu Tomb was fraught with peril.

Even with the strength of the strongest being in the Northern Frontier True God Universe, plus the top-tier cultivation of the Star Lord at the fourth level, the two still faced near-death situations several times there.

The extinguishing light not only eroded divine power but also struck the soul directly. The Lord of Stars was once eroded by the light, nearly half of his divine body was eroded, and his soul almost collapsed.

However, it was in this extremely dangerous situation that she glimpsed a deeper mystery between life and death, and broke through the bottleneck in one fell swoop, stepping into the level of a fifth-order universe master!

This breakthrough not only greatly enhanced her survival ability, but also made the Northern Frontier True God look at her with new eyes, laying a foundation of trust for deeper cooperation between the two sides in the future.

After more than two hundred years of exploration and arduous struggle, the two finally found the Qiqu Starlight Lake in the deepest part of Tianliu Tomb.

Although this supreme treasure has been covered in dust for a long time, its power of "myriad transformations and starry sky dominating the world" still moved the true god of the Northern Frontier.

With this treasure, the Northern Frontier True God's combat power is enough to rank him among the top of the universe's strongest beings.

With the perilous journey through the Cosmic Sea now settled, the Lord of Stars immediately threw himself into the alliances and rivalries of the primordial universe.

She knew that the existing foundation of the Northern Frontier True God and the Star Alliance was not enough to deter all sides. More top-notch combat power had to be introduced to ensure that the newly formed Northern Frontier Alliance could truly stand firm.

The first person she invited was the renowned Lord of the Star River. Although his true form was a special life form, he was extremely skilled at reversing time and space and had resurrected many cosmic venerables from ordinary races. He was highly respected among those races.

The Lord of Stars personally went to his secluded place and invited him to join the alliance on the condition that the future alliance would establish the Hall of Reincarnation, which would be managed by the Lord of the Star River and enjoy a massive amount of resources.

In addition, she promised to change her name to "Liulan Star Lord," which is consistent with her ethnic group's code name, to show her respect for their joining and her determination to be one with the alliance.

This action finally moved the Lord of the Galaxy, who agreed to join the alliance and attracted many ordinary races without a Lord of the Universe to join him by virtue of his resurrection ability.

What shocked all the forces in the universe even more was that the Lord of Stars had actually persuaded the mysterious Lord of the Black Lotus behind the six major plant races.

The Lord of the Black Lotus possesses unfathomable strength, already reaching the level of a fifth-order Universe Lord. Furthermore, due to his unique life form, he is extremely difficult to kill.

After decades of negotiations, the Lord of Stars finally persuaded the Lord of Black Lotus to agree to "share a portion of the inheritance obtained from the Heavenly Flow Tomb".

The addition of the Black Lotus Lord not only brought the full support of the six major plant races, but also created a terrifying situation in the high-end combat power of the Northern Frontier Alliance: "Northern Frontier True God + three fifth-order Universe Lords", making them fearless of any other peak races!