Swallowing the Stars: Starting with the Battle of Geniuses

Chapter 209 Void Dao Patterns, Ten Thousand Years' Journey, Trade Fair

When Hunzhen witnessed the Dao patterns in the void, he naturally comprehended the so-called "beauty of the void" and grasped the meaning of the void.

The thought naturally arose in his mind: "I can create emptiness with a single thought."

"A thought of emptiness" is the signature ability of the Void God, and Hunzhen, being merely the Lord of the Universe, is already able to wield it freely.

Looking back on the process of seeing the void Dao patterns, he realized that even without the inheritance of Duan Donghe, he still had a certain chance of accidentally stepping onto the path of supreme laws.

Just like a great inventor who accidentally changes the world, or a martial arts master in a novel who forges a new path.

Their creations are a combination of factors accumulated by their predecessors and coincidences resulting from the accumulation of countless samples.

There may have been many inventors and martial arts masters in history who were at a similar level to them, but it was they who took that first step.

This was a personal coincidence, but it was also an inevitability of the times.

He already possesses the "probability" of becoming a member of the sample.

Just like the ancestors who first discovered the path of supreme law, there was no such route originally, but they opened up the road under various conditions, where there was no road before.

For Hunzhen, the conditions are omniscient vision + minor mastery of the Chaos Law, and then knowing that when breaking through to the True God realm, the Heart of the True God will be completely transformed into a Seed of Law.

For others, without such extraordinary abilities as omniscience, they might need more complex and demanding conditions.

Hunzhen has already grasped a trace of the meaning of emptiness, breaking through this crucial step from zero to one. The next step is to continuously deepen his understanding and reach the level of transforming meaning into artistic conception.

Nine thousand years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Countless powerful figures gathered here, and the space of the black-patterned stone pillars witnessed an unprecedented spectacle.

Normally, even with the presence of Lord Beichi Star, it would be considered a lot if two or three True Gods were brought together to discuss cultivation.

On this day, looking around, there were dozens of true gods from different forces among the first batch of arrivals.

Many of them also brought along the cosmic lords from their respective factions to broaden their horizons.

All things considered, this space with black-patterned stone pillars welcomed over a thousand visitors in one go.

This is the largest gathering in this era, excluding the time when the Duan Donghe lineage was first born.

Some people came to trade with Hunzhen or for a portion of the inheritance of the Broken East River, while others came specifically to establish a relationship with the legendary God of Time and Space.

With the example of the Divine Eye Clan in mind, no force had dared to casually contact Hunzhen before, in order to avoid offending them.

But since this trade fair was proposed by Hunzhen himself, it became the safest means of contact in their eyes.

"Make way, everyone make way!"

"Everyone, line up properly!"

A figure weaves through the crowd at high speed, seemingly oblivious to the need to maintain order like a ticket seller at an amusement park, yet he continues to do so with undiminished enthusiasm.

This guy, walking sideways with a smug look on his face, is naturally the Rampage Demon God.

Faced with the rampant demon god's arrogant and domineering behavior, the powerful figures dared not speak out.

There's nothing we can do; they have powerful backers. They were also farsighted enough to lend a helping hand when that God of Time and Space was still relatively weak.

Tolerate!

A group of powerful figures transformed into turtles, and many even smiled obsequiously at the rampaging demon god.

"Boss, how was it? I handled everything perfectly for you!"

The rampaging demon god turned to Hunzhen, maintaining the thumbs-up gesture, while blinking frantically.

"Alright, alright, I'll remember your contribution."

Hunzhen waved his hand helplessly, then looked at the long queue and said calmly, "Well then... the transaction will officially begin. Come over one by one."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hunzhen used the power of space and time to pull the first-ranked True God into a closed space.

"grown ups!"

The wolf-headed, human-bodied creature knelt before Hunzhen upon meeting him.

"This representative of the demon race from the second era of reincarnation, I know you're in a hurry, but please don't rush."

Hunzhen gestured, and a tea table appeared in front of him. He poured green tea for both of them, took a leisurely sip, and then said, "Alright, you can speak now."

The werewolf god wiped non-existent sweat from his fur and said in a panic, "Lord Time and Space Venerable God, are you aware that since you slew four True Gods of the Divine Eye Clan, the remaining members of the clan have all gone mad! Especially the three remaining True Lords of the Divine Eye Clan, who have been recklessly plundering weaker forces. Several clans, including our demon race from the second era of reincarnation, have suffered greatly. We humbly beg Your Excellency to intervene! We are willing to double the traded goods!"

pat.

Hunzhen put down his teacup, his expression cold and stern: "Go tell your 'good allies' that the amount you have to hand over has doubled."

"grown ups!"

The werewolf god revealed a look of joy.

Looking at the werewolf god's ecstatic face, Hunzhen smiled sarcastically and said, "But I will not help you deal with the Divine Eye Clan."

"Huh? This..."

The werewolf god's smile froze on his face.

Before he could refute, Hunzhen's immense will pressure enveloped him.

The werewolf god trembled violently. The figure that had been smiling gently suddenly turned into a distorted black shadow, like a huge, indescribable demon!

He was nothing more than an insignificant ant at the feet of that demon god.

The werewolf god suddenly lowered his head and bowed.

The terrifying pressure of that will dissipated.

Immediately afterwards, a torrent of information flooded into the werewolf god's mind.

Hunzhen did not break the agreement and gave away the inherited knowledge. Even if the Werewolf God could not get Hunzhen as a strong ally to solve the problem of the Divine Eye Clan, he should have been overjoyed. But at this moment, having felt the heavy pressure that was as deep as an abyss and as heavy as a prison, the Werewolf God only dared to pray in his heart that the Time and Space Venerable God would be lenient for his offense.

Hunzhen slowly said, "You should remember, this is a 'trade fair,' not an 'exchange meeting,' and certainly not some 'seminar on tribal power issues.' Alright, give me the world ring you promised me. Once I've chosen twice the amount of resources, you can get lost."

"yes!"

The werewolf god dared not voice any objections.

Soon, he took the world ring from Hunzhen, which had confiscated resources, opened a door in the closed space-time, and hurriedly left with Hunzhen's instructions.

Just like how Hunzhen asked the True Gods present at the time to help spread the message ten thousand years ago, the price that each trading force had to pay was different.

However, most of them have one thing in common: they find some top-quality materials from their own clan's power or their own inventory that are of uncertain value, and then Hunzhen selects and takes them away.

The amount chosen by Hunzhen may vary depending on the faction.

The weakest forces, protected by only a seventh-tier True God, receive only one share, along with some scattered secondary materials and resources, and must offer either a top-tier supreme treasure battle sword or a top-tier supreme treasure armor. Of course, the battle sword is offered first, followed by the armor; this is chosen by Hunzhen. It is also expected that the stronger members of the weaker forces offer both a battle sword and armor.

A mid-level power protected by several seventh-tier True Gods or one eighth-tier True God constitutes the backbone of the cosmic sea and is the most numerous. The primordial human race was also a power of this level.

In exchange for the inheritance, two top-tier materials and varying levels of secondary resources are required. Depending on the wealth of their family, Hunzhen will select several supreme treasures of battle swords and armor. Depending on the circumstances, other treasures required by Hunzhen may also need to be offered.

Among the medium-sized forces, there is a significant disparity in strength, with some as weak as the human forces, who don't even possess a single supreme treasure.

However, the most outstanding among them, Hunzhen, naturally accepted the supreme treasures offered by them with great pleasure.

Above that are powerful forces consisting of several eighth-tier True Gods or one ninth-tier True God. After the decline of the Divine Eye Clan, there were only two such forces. Strictly speaking, the seven True Lords of the Divine Eye Clan could unleash tenth-tier combat power through secret techniques, making them a top-tier force one level stronger.

However, nowadays, the Divine Eye Clan is considered to be among the top-tier of the middle-level forces.

As a powerful force, the sacrifices required are numerous, all of which are the result of meticulous planning and careful selection.

The latest novel is first published here!

In the very end, Hunzhen naturally squeezed a lot of profit from the two holy land universes, even more so than Luo Feng in the original work.

However, the two great holy land universes will not be dissatisfied because of this.

The reason is simple: Hunzhen and Luo Feng in the original work are both inheritors of the Duan Donghe River, but their status, position, and strength are worlds apart.

A lone traveler without any clan ties is even more appealing, even to sacred universes, and there's no need to worry about giving away too many treasures and creating a formidable enemy.

After all, in terms of individual combat strength alone, Hunzhen is currently the strongest in the universe without even needing to plunder other treasures.

The inherited knowledge given by Hunzhen also differs significantly from that of Luo Feng in the original work; the knowledge he provides is not diluted.

Let's not even talk about the two great holy land universes.

For forces still in the primordial universe, the most valuable aspect of the Duan Donghe legacy is its systematic progression from apprentice to Void God.

With this complete and advanced knowledge, they will be able to cultivate their successors at a much faster pace, and thus be able to cultivate more true gods before the end of this cycle of reincarnation, relying on a larger base of cosmic lords.

However, Hunzhen did not promise to pass on the knowledge from the apprentice to the true god stage.

Just kidding. The forces of the primordial universe are humanity's most direct competitors. Moreover, in the primordial universe, the number of universe masters is the fundamental measure of a force's strength. No matter how much his strength increases, he cannot make humanity the ruler of the primordial universe by himself.

How could he possibly aid the enemy for such a paltry gain?

What he was trading was knowledge that led him to break through to the level of a true god, that is, to reach the level of a void true god.

Those who benefited the most from this were naturally the true gods of the first and second cycles of reincarnation in the cosmic sea.

They have virtually no need to mentor the next generation; they are more focused on the possibility of reincarnation.

In return for the knowledge they needed most, Hunzhen felt perfectly justified in exploiting the corresponding forces a little more.

With so many inheritances flowing out, there is indeed a possibility that some true gods could break through to the level of Void True God.

Even if someone breaks through to the Void True God level, they will not pose any threat to Hunzhen, nor will they change the situation of the Cosmic Sea.

Because once one breaks through to the Void True God realm, one must quickly travel through reincarnation to reach the Origin Continent.

Most importantly, excluding the progenitors, there are no tenth-order true gods in the Cosmic Sea now; the highest is only ninth-order.

Even a tenth-order True God needs time to digest this inherited knowledge, and even if they fully digest it, it doesn't guarantee that they will be able to break through to the Void True God level.

If simply inheriting knowledge was enough to break through to the Void God realm, then Void Gods in the Jin world would have been commonplace long ago.

Before the world of Jin was created, the total number of true gods across the three cycles of reincarnation was less than two hundred.

Even excluding the original ancestors, among the two hundred or so existing true gods, they all broke through without inheritance, and their aptitude is quite good. However, it is already quite a lot for a Void True God to appear with this inheritance.

The more likely scenario is that none of them will appear.

Therefore, Hunzhen is not worried at all about using inheritance to exchange for resources and end up nurturing a great enemy.

Therefore, the knowledge he provided regarding the breakthrough from True God to Void True God can be considered the best he could offer without violating his soul oath.

As for the knowledge passed down to the two founding ancestors of the holy land?

Hunzhen knew very well that, under the shield of the primordial cosmic will, the knowledge they most desired—about breaking through to the level of Eternal True God or advancing further at the level of Void True God—could not be transmitted.

The knowledge that Luo Feng could give to the Eastern Emperor Ancestor in the original story was already the limit of what Luo Feng could provide, yet it still enraged the Eastern Emperor Ancestor, or rather... caused him to erupt in impotent rage. After all, he was on the Origin Continent.

During this process, Luo Feng also had to divide up the knowledge that was originally of little use to the Eastern Emperor Ancestor in order to entice the Eastern Emperor Ancestor to give up more treasures.

Hunzhen possesses formidable strength, yet he doesn't need to go through such roundabout ways.

Transactions in batches?

Fixed price, no negotiation!

However, he wouldn't go to such extremes as Luo Feng.

Under the shield of the primordial cosmic will, he could not directly transmit knowledge at the level of the Eternal True God, but he naturally ignored this shield and knew the original content.

While it cannot be directly passed on, indirectly disseminating a little bit of cultivation experience is perfectly acceptable.

The resources of ten supreme treasures are almost the limit of the two holy land universes.

Hunzhen's need for supreme treasures is not that high, or rather, twenty supreme treasures are far from enough to satisfy him to allow any of his natal treasures to evolve again after this resource acquisition.

Therefore, Hunzhen tends to acquire rare materials.

With the reserves of the two Void Gods, it is indeed possible to obtain materials at the level of Eternal Gods.

As long as there is hope, for Hunzhen, if not certain, there is at least a 90% probability.

During the previous price negotiations, he had a very pleasant conversation with both parties.

Pulling his wandering thoughts back, Hunzhen quickly began the next handover of traded goods.

During his conversation with the werewolf god, he deliberately allowed the pressure of his will, which had reached the level of a void god, to leak out slightly. This effectively expressed his intentions and intimidated most of those who harbored ulterior motives.

But there are always people in this world who are not afraid of hardships and are willing to face difficulties head-on.

(End of this chapter)