Swallowing the Stars: Starting with the Battle of Geniuses

Chapter 210 Returning to the Primitive Universe

Hunzhen was well aware that not everyone was truly convinced of his worth.

Among the forces that traded with him, some were unwilling to be slaughtered. They thought, "With so many people coming together, what can the God of Time and Space do against one person?" They intended to take advantage of the opportunity of so many powerful forces gathering together to unite and eliminate Hunzhen on the spot.

But ultimately, they cannot stand alone. Under Hunzhen's great reputation, most people are still willing to pay a price that is not exactly crippling, but only slightly painful, to "buy" the inherited knowledge from Hunzhen.

Even with so many people joining forces, to be honest, Hunzhen isn't afraid at all.

In conclusion, it was not these restless individuals who rose to the challenge this time.

But...

"My esteemed deity, please accept me as your disciple!"

"I refuse."

Looking at the Lord of the Universe kneeling before him, Hunzhen refused without hesitation, his face cold and stern.

He ignored the somewhat embarrassed true god beside the cosmic lord, raised his head, and carried his voice beyond the enclosed space.

"Listen carefully, everyone!"

"Whether you intend it or not, I'm issuing this announcement now, and I won't make any further announcements!"

"Next, there are those who want to have their clan's geniuses become my disciples, or those who want to recruit me into their own faction to become their supreme ruler, and those who want to curry favor!"

"I am rejecting all requests that are irrelevant to this transaction here! And I will not have similar intentions in the future!"

"I am single-mindedly devoted to the Dao, and I will climb to the pinnacle of the path of laws on my own. I do not need a successor to continue my dream! Nor do I need to join any power to enjoy great wealth and honor!"

That's all I wanted to say.

His declaration caused those powerful figures with similar intentions to change color.

But when he thought of Hunzhen's domineering nature, he could only sigh and withdraw these inappropriate thoughts.

"Heh, Your Excellency is truly detached in nature. Even in my opinion, a life consisting solely of cultivation would be far too dull and monotonous."

Finally, the traders from the Eastern Emperor Holy Land arrived, but unlike the previous dispatch of the Lord of the Universe, it was the Lord of the Northern True Star who came out to talk with Hunzhen.

Upon entering the enclosed space-time temporarily created by Hunzhen, the old-looking Beizhen Star Lord looked at Hunzhen and said this, seemingly expressing his opinion on Hunzhen's previous unanimous refusal.

"Oh? Lord Beizhen, are you here on behalf of the Eastern Emperor Ancestor to recruit me?" Hunzhen asked with a smile.

"Haha! Your Excellency, there's no need to overthink this. These are just my personal opinions. The Ancestral Holy Land can only accommodate a limited number of the strongest individuals. If we were to recruit Your Excellency, I might very well be the one to be eliminated. Therefore, what I've said above is merely my humble opinion based on my long experience over the years." Lord Beizhen shook his head with a smile.

Hunzhen neither agreed nor disagreed with the idea of ​​the Northern True Star Lord. Since the other party was backed by the Holy Land and had less vested interest, his attitude was naturally more detached than that of people from other forces.

Hunzhen wasn't in a hurry to finish, and was happy to chat with the other party for a while.

"Lord Beizhen, don't you think about how long you've lived and how long I've lived? Perhaps in the future I will also be bound by something, or stop at some point on my path of progress, but right now I am still making great strides and have no time to think about such things."

Upon hearing this, the Northern Star Lord was taken aback, then raised his teacup, bowed apologetically, and laughed, "Haha, it was my narrow-mindedness that led me to forget that Your Excellency is still young! Please forgive my rudeness!"

The two then chatted happily.

However, what the Northern Star Master said was not his true and genuine thought.

He wasn't as unburdened as he appeared; he simply needed to project an image consistent with Milirat's disguised persona.

His connection, naturally, lay with the human race of the primordial universe—his teachers, elders, and friends…

After seeing off the last trader and ending the trade fair, Hunzhen seemed to gaze through the space of the black-patterned stone pillars and look towards the distant primordial universe.

"It's time to go back and deliver these materials to the Mountain Hermit."

Hunzhen left behind an energy incarnation in the primordial universe. If one wishes to communicate with old acquaintances, one can directly contact them through the virtual universe.

Under the magical talent of Three Thousand, these energy avatars felt exactly the same as the original, without any weakening or difference.

However, for Hunzhen himself, there are still some differences on a psychological level.

For nearly 20,000 years, his true form has remained in this cosmic sea, with most of his consciousness concentrated here.

However, the actual time he experienced was far more than 20,000 years.

Unless it is to survey future changes, Hunzhen will not communicate with relatives and friends in the simulation.

In his personal experience, this behavior is like playing a dating sim and completing the route of one heroine before trying to win over the other heroines. When trying to win over the second or third heroine, he would unconsciously think about the reactions of the first heroine and the second and third heroines when playing the route of the first heroine.

The storylines with the heroines are still the same, and they don't change because of the order in which he pursues them, but something just doesn't feel right anymore.

Just like when facing the heroines in those dating games, if he frequently communicates with his relatives and friends in the simulation, then the time he has spent with those relatives and friends will gradually become inconsistent with what they have experienced and the time they have spent together.

He will inevitably be unable to fully immerse himself in the role of "himself in the eyes of his relatives and friends," and will gradually view reality from a more detached perspective, like a player looking down on an NPC from a higher dimension.

This is probably what the Northern Star Lord meant by "bond".

In order to prevent it from turning gray, Hunzhen deliberately cut off most of his interpersonal relationships during this period, creating an invisible circle for himself and plunging himself into loneliness.

Being alone away from home for a long time inevitably brings a sense of melancholy, like a wanderer in a foreign land.

Thinking of this, Hunzhen decided to temporarily suspend his cultivation, leaving an avatar and the Tomb Ship here, while his true self would return to the primordial universe.

With Hunzhen's current strength and flight speed, his efficiency in traveling through the cosmic sea is undoubtedly the best.

In just a few decades, we will be able to return to the original universe from the Black-Patterned Stone Pillar space where we are now.

Along the way, Hunzhen silently devoured the battle swords and armor treasures he had seized from various powerful forces.

Upgrading the Time-Shattering Demon Blade and the Void Ghost Armor from the peak level to the True God level requires ten True God-level supreme treasure battle blades and armors, or one hundred peak supreme treasure battle blades and armors.

The most powerful treasures in the hands of major powers are extremely rare, but even the weakest power in the universe can produce several top-tier treasures in a short period of time.

However, the shortage of over a hundred top-tier treasure battle swords and armors would likely be enough to drain the entire wealth of one or two medium-sized forces in the universe.

Hunzhen easily achieved this by having many forces help share the burden.

Thus, both the Time-Scarring Demon Blade and the Void Armor were finally elevated to the True God level.

To advance further, one would need ten treasures at the Void God level or one hundred treasures at the True God level.

Even with Hunzhen's current strength, it would be impossible for him to collect them in a short period of time.

However, now that his combat power is invincible in the universe, Hunzhen is naturally not in a hurry.

When the Jin Dynasty emerges millions of years later, it will be the best time to collect treasures and upgrade the two natal treasures.

After these two natal treasures were upgraded to the level of true gods, Hunzhen vaguely realized another change.

"After I reached the second level of the 'Dance of the Demon God' and my Demon God Body advanced to the first level of the Divine Power route, I vaguely felt that my body had changed in addition to the level of life genes."

"I never imagined the answer lay in these two natal treasures?"

The term "life treasure" is a concept that Hunzhen inherited from the cultivation novels he had read in his previous life.

A personal treasure is something that cultivators cultivate together with their life force, possessing the attribute of sharing both glory and loss.

If the True Time-Shattering Demon Blade and the Void Armor are damaged, the body itself will also be injured. If it weren't for the special abilities he has drawn from the future, he wouldn't have dared to "unleash his full power" so casually when facing the Mechanical Father God and the Illusory Demon God.

But the true treasure of one's destiny is actually a part of the cultivator himself.

While the Time-Scarring Demon Blade and the Void Armor are said to be his natal treasures, they haven't reached that level yet.

Ultimately, it is still an "external object" rather than the true "manifestation of itself," and there is a slight, imperceptible gap between them.

The evidence is that the talent that Hunzhen previously gained through the Life Source Fruit can be inherited from the simulation. However, even if the Time-Sorrow Demon Blade and the Void Ghost Armor devour treasures in the simulation, their real-world counterparts will not inherit the changes.

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Just like the other treasures in Hunzhen's possession, the consumption and upgrades in the simulation are all just simulations.

After advancing to the second level of the Demon God Body, which was comparable to the first level of the Divine Power route, and with the two supreme treasures being upgraded to the True God level, Hunzhen felt that this barrier had decreased slightly.

The moment Hunzhen realized this, he received a kind of enlightening knowledge.

"Once the Demon God Body is perfected and comparable to the third level of the Divine Power route, and the two supreme treasures are upgraded to the level of Sacred Weapons, the two supreme treasures will no longer be indistinguishable from me. They will no longer be external artifacts, but integral parts of me."

Just like the advancement of the primordial embryo, it no longer needs to devour the same type of supreme treasure to evolve, but rather it is upgraded along with the improvement of Hunzhen's own secret technique realm, law comprehension, and life level.

There will never again be a situation where combat power exceeds that of weapons and armor, or where combat power is hindered by weapons and armor.

Completely synchronized with Hunzhen, this means that the Yuan Embryo has an upper limit of the level of Divine King Weapon, while the two Natal Artifacts do not have such a limitation.

Putting aside his thoughts, Hunzhen continued on his way.

"arrive."

Looking at the cosmic membrane so close at hand, Hunzhen moved his mind and entered it.

As the original Hunzhen left the space of the black-patterned stone pillar and headed to the primordial universe, there were naturally many who noticed it.

With such heavy supplies on his hands, plus the legacy of the Divine Eye Clan, Hunzhen alone possessed wealth comparable to that of an entire cosmic sea.

Furthermore, once one enters the primordial universe, their power ceiling is locked.

All of this naturally attracts many interested people.

Hunzhen merely sneered inwardly at these prying eyes.

What he truly excels at is "stomping noobs" and "ganging up"!

Given the characteristics of "Time and Space Maze" and his inherent ability to control groups, even if his strength limit is locked at the sixth-order limit, the universe lords of the primordial universe will inevitably die one by one or in groups when they encounter him.

I'm not afraid at all.

Moving within the primordial universe, the speed could be many times faster than in the cosmic ocean.

It's not just the existence of the dark universe.

Most importantly, one can instantly travel from one end of the primordial universe to the other through divine teleportation.

Whoosh.

"Senior Sitting Mountain Guest, JO will be waiting."

Hunzhen smiled and looked at the mountain dweller sitting on the mountain in front of him, who opened his eyes with a helpless expression.

With a flick of his wrist, Hunzhen sent a world ring containing a wealth of resources into the hands of Zuoshanke.

The mountain dweller's mind stirred, and he quickly investigated. Immediately, his eyes lit up.

He clicked his tongue and chuckled at Hunzhen, "I never expected this. I've heard of those kinds of deals, but I really didn't expect you to actually be able to get your hands on so many good stuff."

Hunzhen remained calm and unperturbed by the praise from the mountain dweller.

In their previous exchanges, the two had maintained a special understanding and had not specifically changed the materials list.

However, Hunzhen, having received the inheritance of Duan Donghe and broadened his horizons, was naturally able to know from the material list previously given by Zuoshanke what materials were needed to refine that treasure with the Discoloration Core as its core component.

The materials he selected from those cosmic sea forces may not be the best, but they are certainly the materials that best meet the requirements of the Mountain-Sitting Guest.

"How's it going? How confident are you about what I said before?" Hunzhen raised an eyebrow at Zuoshanke and asked cryptically.

The Mountain-Sitting Guest rolled his eyes and said, "It's fifty-fifty. If I succeed, I'll reach your so-called 'bottom line' (the level of an Eternal True God). If I fail, I might not even be as good as the slightly better ones among the supreme treasures (the level of a Void True God). However, if you don't want to gamble on that bottom line, at the very least I can make it one level stronger than most supreme treasures (the level of a Void True God). It all depends on what you're thinking. Let me make it clear first, if I fail, I won't take responsibility. As for those things you said to try and sow discord between me and this old man, hehe..."

As he spoke, Zuo Shan Ke Chao Hun Zhen revealed a mischievous smile, without uttering the last part of his words directly.

The true nature of things is naturally understood.

The mountain dweller was simply saying that this was his current limit.

The treasure offered by Hunzhen is quite good. If you try your luck, there's a 50% chance of getting a top-quality item, but there's also a 50% chance of failing and getting a substandard one.

If you're looking for a safe bet, then you'll want 100% normal stuff.

Even someone of this mediocre caliber could reach the level of a Void True God.

"OK."

Hunzhen nodded, then sneered at Zuoshanke: "Even with someone as skilled as you, Senior, burning it like a pro... Master Tie has taken action, am I supposed to just sit here and play it safe? Fill it up, fill it up completely! Even if it turns into a pile of ashes, I'll accept it!"

"Hmph, you're quite magnanimous, aren't you?"

Upon hearing this, the Mountain-Sitting Guest shook his head and chuckled, waving his hand and saying, "Alright, come back again in ten thousand years. Hehe, to help you refine this artifact, this old bone of mine might have to make a trip to the Cosmic Sea."

"Then I'll leave it to you." Hunzhen suppressed his smile and solemnly handed over the discolored core.

In the blink of an eye, only the Mountain-Sitting Guest remained atop the mountain suspended in the universe.

The mountain dweller examined the faded core from all angles, his mind racing, a growing fervor creeping into his eyes: "To unleash the full potential of this material, it's best to preserve its unique function, making other materials merely supplementary. Heh heh, how many years, how many years since I've seen such a fine gem... I can't let that brat look down on this old man, or I really don't know how he'll make fun of me! Tsk tsk, now I can really give that brat what he wants, a good harvest of gold coins..."

(End of this chapter)