Swallowing the Stars: Starting with the Battle of Geniuses

"Lord Hunzhen, through your understanding of honorific titles, you should have already realized to some extent that in the Origin Continent, there exists real and undeniable power within so-called titles, names, and other such things! This has long been part of the world's rules and framework on the Origin Continent."

"Normally speaking, we twelve Divine Lords are indeed stronger than ordinary Divine Lords. However, while an ordinary Divine Lord can face hundreds of Divine Kings at the same time, the twelve Divine Lords can only manage one to two times that number, which is about the limit."

"But in reality? We can easily defeat hundreds, thousands, or even thousands of God-Kings! Ordinary peak God-Kings wouldn't even last a single move against us before being instantly killed! Even those who have reached the God-Lord level, as long as they are not among the Twelve God-Lords, we can easily defeat and kill them!"

"That's because... we stripped them of their names as divine beings! By 'naming' them, we demoted them to god-kings, thus robbing them of the power that rightfully belonged to them, and seizing and dividing it up!"

Such secrets all involve the powerful essence of the Twelve Divine Lords, which ordinary people could never possibly know.

Even Lysa, standing to the side, looked shocked, as if she were hearing this for the first time. Perhaps she could glean fragments of the truth from some events in the Origin Continent, but she never imagined the truth would be so cruel.

It turns out that those twelve supreme gods didn't have any special abilities at all; they simply stole the names of the other gods to gain extraordinary power!

Hunzhen, on the other hand, had not been to the Origin Continent for long and had not personally experienced the majesty of the God Lord, so he could not truly feel the meaning symbolized by the words "God Lord" and was not too shocked.

"Do you still think I have no worries or demands?"

The Lord of Luohe, seemingly oblivious to the tremor in his disciple's heart, smiled and asked Hunzhen.

Hunzhen paused for a moment, then said, "A name is just a code, and a code can be stripped away, and naturally, it can be reassigned. So... the name of the God-King can be taken back, or rather, contested?"

Hunzhen quickly realized this, and before the Lord of Luohe could respond, he was already certain of it.

If the prodigies with titles are vying for opportunities on the Hunyuan Heavenly Road, and the God Kings are vying for the rewards of the Great Source, then what the God Lords are vying for in this game... should be the name of God Lord!

Lord Luohe nodded slightly: "Every ten thousand Great Evolutionary Periods, the Origin Continent will be engulfed in a 'War of Realms' that sweeps across all living beings on the entire continent. In the past, the Twelve Lords would try their best to restrain the conflicts between realms, keeping the highest level of conflict on the Origin Continent limited to the countries within each realm. This was a healthy competition within the control of the Lords."

Healthy competition...

Hunzhen couldn't help but think of the State of Jin and its divine king, who had been eliminated in this so-called healthy competition, and felt a strange sense of irony.

However, he did not interrupt, but sat quietly and listened to what the Lord of Luohe had to say.

"Whenever a realm war approaches, even before the war has truly begun, the Origin Continent is rife with undercurrents and lurking dangers. Even the Twelve Divine Lords cannot remain uninvolved. This is because a realm war is essentially a war in which the Twelve Divine Lords redistribute their power. Although the Twelve Divine Lords share the power of the title of Divine Lord, the power they gain is not the same. The one who occupies the larger realm will receive more power and influence. And how many realms one can occupy naturally depends on the difference in the overall national strength of that realm."

"Now that the time for the interdimensional war to begin is very close, I have to consider the start of the interdimensional war... Of course, this 'close' refers to our God Lord and those God Kings. For you beings born in this Great Evolution Era, there is still a long time to go."

Hunzhen pondered for a moment, then voiced his doubt: "Do you really think that a mere Saint-level being like me could influence the interdimensional war you speak of that is sweeping across the entire Origin Continent? Judging from the information you just provided, even a peak God-King at the God-Lord level could probably only influence a localized battlefield, right?"

Upon hearing this, Lord Luohe smiled and shook his head: "Lord Hunzhen, first of all, you have a misunderstanding. Do you think that just because it's 'only a local battlefield,' it's not worth me personally making a move? A powerful figure who has the potential to reach the level of a God Lord in the future is already enough to earn my special treatment. So, don't overestimate yourself. Even now, you are not an insignificant person. Besides... I do have high hopes for you."

For some reason, Hunzhen once again felt the gaze from beneath that golden ribbon.

The God Lord Luohe said in a low voice, "My expectation of you, Lord Hunzhen, is not just to be a 'peak God-King who has reached the level of God-Lord,' but to be a true God-Lord who can pull someone who originally resided in the heavens down from the throne and sit on it himself."

When Lysa heard Luohe Shenzhu's truly sincere evaluation, her cherry-like mouth under her veil couldn't help but open wide, slightly touching the veil.

Hunzhen couldn't help but grin: "Then I really must thank the Divine Lord for valuing this junior so highly?"

The Lord of Luohe said calmly, "As a singularity that stirs up destiny, you deserve my high regard. However, I won't deliberately use flattering words to reassure you. Such superficial reasons are unlikely to put your mind at ease. The most important reason lies in... the weakness of the Luohe Realm. To be honest, among the twelve realms today, the Luohe Realm is arguably the weakest. Because of this weakness, the Luohe Realm has the fewest conflicts with other realms. Therefore, I place greater emphasis on strengthening its combat power than other lords."

Upon hearing this, Hunzhen couldn't help but look at Lysa.

The clear, pointed gaze made Lysa's heart skip a beat, and she involuntarily replied, "That...that's indeed the case. As far as I know, in this Great Epoch, the Luohe Realm has hardly had any actual serious conflicts with other realms."

"hehe."

Lord Luohe chuckled, "It seems Lord Hunzhen still harbors considerable wariness towards me?"

Hunzhen nodded frankly: "Compared to the power of the Divine Lord, I am but a worm that can be crushed at will. For a worm not to take precautions when facing a giant elephant is to go against its survival instinct."

All three present clearly understood the reason why Hunzhen brought Lysa to meet the Lord of Luohe.

As long as Lysa is present, Hunzhen can directly observe the fluctuations in Lysa's fate to determine whether the Lord of Luohe is lying or even concealing something.

Lysa realized that she had once again become Hunzhen's tool, and silently pouted, perfectly embodying the meaning of being angry but not daring to speak out, like a wronged little wife.

Lord Luohe said, "I have already revealed my intentions, so Lord Hunzhen can lower his guard. With your abilities, I believe you can easily escape even within this temple, instead of being easily crushed as you say."

"..."

Hunzhen didn't respond to the truth of the matter, but changed the subject and asked, "Since the Divine Lord has been so frank, may I ask a few more questions?"

Lord Luohe nodded in agreement, "I am willing to answer any questions you may have."

"Then let me ask you this: since Your Majesty considers me so important, why did you have Lysa approach me in such a roundabout way instead of extending an invitation yourself? How can you guarantee that I won't ignore this guy? That would make it impossible to establish a connection with your Temple of Destiny, would it?"

Hunzhen asked his biggest question.

Upon hearing this, Lord Luohe couldn't help but let out a slightly mischievous laugh: "May I ask, if I were to personally deliver the invitation, would Lord Hunzhen come here? Would he be willing to see me?"

Hunzhen: "..."

Looking at the silent Hunzhen, the God of Luohe asserted with absolute certainty: "Furthermore, suppose I were to establish a fateful connection with you like Lysa did, would you accept it? You wouldn't."

Hunzhen looked at the God of Luohe and found it unbelievably reasonable that what the other party said was!

If he hadn't already taken control of Lysa's fate and had such a medium, even with the secret technique of Void Teleportation, he wouldn't have easily visited a god-king, let alone a god-king who controls the power of destiny!

Who knows if the other party might have secretly plotted against me?

But now, having the ability to see the concrete manifestation of destiny through a hyperdimensional perspective, Hunzhen has the confidence to confront the Lord of the Luo River directly.

It's fair to say that if any one link had been missing, he might not have been able to ascend to the Temple of Destiny so easily.

It was also from the Luohe God's control over people's hearts and his accurate judgment of the thoughts of someone he had never met before that Hunzhen gained a deeper understanding of the God's power.

The fact that the God of Luohe, who controls destiny, can achieve this level of skill in this regard also gives a glimpse into the extraordinary nature of other gods.

Perhaps it is precisely for this reason that the twelve divine lords are revered as gods by the beings of the Origin Continent.

"You should understand now. As a unique point in destiny, you would probably notice if I did anything to you. And it is precisely because you realize that I haven't done anything to you that you are willing to have this conversation with me."

The Lord of Luohe gave such a conclusion, which made Hunzhen nod involuntarily.

"well?"

Upon hearing this, Lysa blinked rapidly.

Hunzhen raised an eyebrow, instantly noticing something, and turned to look at Lysa.

Lysa looked at her teacher, sensing that something bad had happened.

But... once her fate was in Hunzhen's hands, even if what she saw was a palette, Hunzhen could still discern the specific components, let alone such intense emotional fluctuations.

"It's alright."

Looking at Lysa, who was holding an ostrich with its head buried in the ground, Lord Luohe smiled gently: "Lysa, just like I said before, since you have decided to serve Lord Hunzhen as your master, naturally Lord Hunzhen's interests will be your top priority. There's nothing you can't say."

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Lysa sighed inwardly, quickly composed herself, and looked solemnly at Lord Luohe: "Teacher, I remember... you didn't say that, did you? Didn't you fabricate that destiny to establish a connection between me and Lord Hunzhen? I was just about to say that your statement that you wouldn't interfere with Lord Hunzhen's destiny contradicts your statement that you 'supposed to establish a connection between me and Lord Hunzhen's destiny,' isn't it?"

The connection of fate is something that will naturally arise from the establishment of relationships between lives. However, considering the previous manipulation of fate by the Lord of Luohe and the fact that there was no relationship between the two, in Lysa's ears, the "establishment of connection" mentioned by the Lord of Luohe is naturally the result of fate's interference.

"Well..."

The God of Luohe smiled slyly: "Because I was lying to you back then."

"what?"

Lysa looked on incredulously.

Was it a lie? All those things the teacher said before were lies to me?

Ryza felt a mix of emotions and almost lost her fighting ability on the spot.

The God Lord of Luohe rarely showed his personal side, and helplessly spread his hands towards Lysa: "Even I couldn't possibly interfere with the fate of a singularity from across a world. Lysa, you've always thought of me as omnipotent. I'm not some supreme god, how could I possibly do such a thing? Rather, it's because of the special fate that I discovered Lord Hunzhen's singularity, and then I devised the plan to let you make contact with Lord Hunzhen."

"what?"

Ryza finds herself becoming an "Ah" machine.

She never expected the truth to be like this.

but……

"Why do I feel as if my fate with Lord Hunzhen was truly fabricated? Teacher, how do you explain this?"

Lysa's eyes lit up; she had spotted the key point.

"well……"

However, upon hearing this, Lord Luohe shook his head and rebuked her with a sigh, "Lysa, it seems your experience is still insufficient. How could you ask such a foolish question? It's beyond just lack of skill!"

"what?"

"I ask you: Is the connection of destiny only born after close relationships between people are established?"

"Yes."

"Before you followed Lord Hunzhen, did you establish any relationship with him?"

"..."

Lysa realized what was happening.

Hunzhen, standing to the side, frowned, feeling that... Lord Luohe was beating around the bush, releasing a smokescreen.

How can one question this? Even a novice who has not mastered the ways of destiny would find it difficult to find a suitable entry point.

Unexpectedly, Lord Luohe quickly turned the topic back to Hunzhen: "Lord Hunzhen should know better than anyone else that I have never interfered with Lord Hunzhen's fate, whether in the past or now."

Hunzhen nodded silently in agreement.

Just as he said before, not to mention the Hyperdimensional Vision, the Omniscient Vision is already a power at least on the same level as the Twelve Gods, and it is more likely that it is even above their level.

Long ago, he had always maintained a state of omniscience. If the God of Luohe did something to him, even if it was across a world, he couldn't possibly be completely unaware.

So... Lord Luohe really wasn't lying?

Hunzhen quickly put aside the question of whether the other party was lying.

The current situation is that, regardless of whether the other party is hiding anything, they are indeed coming with good intentions.

"Lord Hunzhen, frankly speaking, having such an unqualified disciple as your follower completely contradicts the principle of mutual benefit. The reason I didn't personally invite you is twofold: firstly, I feared you might be wary and resistant; secondly, I wanted to bind Lysa to you. After the binding is complete, as a follower, her benefits in the Hunyuan Heavenly Road will actually be less related to her own performance. More importantly, they will depend on the corresponding benefits she receives as you progress in the Hunyuan Heavenly Road. And compared to her venturing into the Hunyuan Heavenly Road alone, relying on your talents will undoubtedly yield more."

Lord Luohe paused for a moment: "And all of this can be seen as benefits that we have gained."

"Since we're trying to recruit you into my Luohe camp, it's impossible to do so without making sacrifices. I personally hope you can reach the summit of the Hunyuan Heavenly Road, thus completing your transformation as quickly as possible. Therefore, to achieve this shared, win-win goal..."

To Lysa's astonishment, her revered teacher, Lord Luohe, bowed slightly to Hunzhen: "Whatever Your Excellency requires, I will naturally do my utmost to fulfill it." (End of Chapter)