Swallowed Star

Overhead, there was the endless lava ocean, and underneath, there was the endless black morass. One was burning hot; the other was icy cold.

This was the dangerous Flame Ice region. At this moment, it had become the craziest of battlefields where numerous universe supreme beings of exalted ranks were using their supreme true treasures and thinking of all ways possible to stop that Boat of Mausoleum. Yet the Boat of Mausoleum continued to advance at high speed. Fortunately, the numerous universe supreme beings were capable of easily accelerating to a speed that exceeded 100 times the speed of light. Therefore, they were able to catch up far enough to hover around its surroundings.

“No need to talk about seizing it. We cannot even stop it.”

“What should we do if we cannot stop it? Does it mean the three of us shall just have to follow it like that, so wherever the Boat of Mausoleum goes, we follow?”

Various groups of great powers were starting to grow anxious yet helpless. North True Star Master had already summoned the ten universe masters under his command and arranged for the siege on the Boat of Mausoleum with the combined power of these ten universe masters; East Emperor Holy Land’s attacks were indeed powerful and dynamic, but North True Star Master was still depending on a domain type supreme true treasure to establish contact with the Boat of Mausoleum for sustaining voice transmission with his godly power.

“Milky Way Horde Leader, Ancestor has made up his mind,” North True Star Master said.

A voice was transmitted from within the Boat of Mausoleum. “Oh?”

North True Star Master gritted his teeth in silence. How detestable. He had lived for countless years as a universe supreme master, and never had he seen anyone who possessed ten supreme true treasures at once! Even the two great ancestors… before they transcended their reincarnation era, never did they own as many as ten supreme true treasures, and they had to finally transcend reincarnation before they were acknowledged as the greatest contributors to their clans! That was also when they gained control over their clans’ fate!

Unquestionably, they became the ancestors of the entire clan!

Therefore, the common treasures belonged to the clans—even valuables belonging to universe masters and universe supreme masters. So long as ancestors gave the command for them to contribute their valuables, they had to obey. This was because, if not for ancestors, the entire clan would not be able to survive through three reincarnation eras. This went to show that even the two great ancestors were not able to depend on their own abilities to gain ten supreme true treasures.

“What a lucky fellow that human is.” North True Star Master’s face was twisted with displeasure. The moment he recalled East Emperor Ancestor’s orders, he felt even more jealous.

First, he had gained what was said to be the most precious inheritance within the entire Universe Ocean! Now, merely taking out some of his inheritance, he had gotten himself ten supreme true treasures.

******

“My ancestor has agreed to the exchange of ten supreme true treasures.” North True Star Master transmitted his message via his godly power.

“Promise?”

Luo Feng stood up from his chair swiftly, and with eyes shining brightly, he paced the hall.

This was a crucial moment! It was also an extremely important moment for the fate of humanity!

If this was his own inheritance he was talking about, the experience he could offer from all the cultivation he had achieved from that ancient civilization would bring about a turning point for the fate of human race. However, a turning point of such a nature entailed a kind of change that would gradually unfold over a long period of time. After all, great beings required long years to slowly cultivate, and no one could guess when the next universe supreme master of the human race would arise.

But a supreme true treasure was able to bring about a fundamental change to the ability of a human!

What the human race lacked was a supreme true treasure! If ten supreme true treasures could be given to them, a few of their top-tiered life forms—especially Huge Axe Creator—could be equipped with two or three supreme true treasures. Then he would certainly be able to run rampant throughout Universe Ocean, just like Teacher Origin had before he was suppressed. As for Primal Chaos City Leader, Darkness Master, Peng Gong Master, and a few other top-tier figures, if they owned some supreme true treasures, they could be like Deer Bug Master and the few others who reigned predominance when they were within Universe Ocean. They were fearless even in the face of universe supreme beings.

With such a superior power, the human race would become stronger!

Luo Feng’s mind was churning at high speed. “The coming negotiation will be crucial. East Emperor Ancestor will not foolishly hand over ten supreme true treasures right away. This negotiation will determine the fate of humanity.”

“Ancestor might have promised,” North True Star Master started to say, “but Milky Way Horde Leader, we need you to be clear about one condition. After all, we are talking about ten supreme true treasures… Within Universe Ocean, not a single group of powers would be able to take ten supreme true treasures out so readily. Our Ancestor has to practice vigilance too, so I will need to first verify the authenticity of the inheritance that Milky Way Horde Leader has given; once I have verified that everything is real, I will hand over ten supreme true treasures right away!”

“Verify?” Luo Feng snorted coldly. “How do you verify?”

“Of course, East Emperor Ancestor will personally take a look at the inheritance because only Ancestor will be able to confirm the authenticity,” North True Star Master said.

“North True, are you taking me for a fool? This is a memory inheritance; one look at it, and you can learn all about it. If East Emperor Ancestor were to look at it, he would be able to learn all about it. By then, should he decide to change his mind about giving me the supreme true treasures… what could I do?” Luo Feng was furious. “And verifying its authenticity based on what you have just mentioned is solely dependent on East Emperor Ancestor’s judgment. I think you are taking me for a fool.”

“Let’s talk things out,” North True Star Master quickly replied. “No matter what, we have to verify the authenticity. If not, what if you have given us something fake? By just handing over ten supreme true treasures, what would we from East Emperor Holy Land—”

“All right!” Luo Feng said curtly. “Since you all are so worried, let me suggest something. If you are not agreeable, then we shall call off the deal.”

“What did you have in mind, Milky Way Horde Leader?” North True Star Master replied.

Luo Feng was firm and decisive. “The proposal I have is simple. I have an inheritance of the ancient civilization that includes the cultivation experiences of three ancient existences, and the three different sets of cultivation experiences are stored in three different memory stones. Your side will first hand over three supreme true treasures as collateral! I will give you one memory stone in exchange. Your East Emperor Ancestor will look and judge, since you say that he will naturally be able to tell if the stone is real or fake. Whatever he decides—real or fake, I simply can’t be bothered to ask—but the bottom-line is… if you want the next memory stone, you have to give me another four supreme true treasures in exchange for it! As for the last memory stone, you will need to use the remaining three supreme true treasures in exchange for it.”

Luo Feng was in a strong position. He paused, then added, “This is my only proposal. If you find it agreeable, then we have a deal. If not… so be it.”

“This—this… this is asking for too much,” North True Star Master immediately said. “Three supreme true treasures as collateral? Milky Way Horde Leader, if the memory stone is not the real thing, then isn’t it like our three supreme true treasures will be gone for nothing? No, this is definitely not acceptable.”

“I think it is better for you to first ask East Emperor Ancestor.” Luo Feng sneered unfeelingly. “I believe three supreme true treasures may be massive to the other clans, but to East Emperor Holy Land… they are nothing much. If you are so stingy with such a small price, then you can forget about this inheritance.”

******

North True Star Master was negotiating with Luo Feng while reporting the situation to East Emperor Ancestor. This deal was highly influential, so North True Star Master did not wield such authority to act as he pleased.

But for East Emperor Ancestor… as one of the greatest existences throughout the Universe Ocean, he would not fall under Luo Feng’s influence easily. He instructed North True Star Master decisively.

“For the three memory stones,” he said, “the first one will have one supreme true treasure as collateral. I will use this to verify the authenticity of the memory stone. For the second round, we will use five supreme true treasures to exchange for the next stone, and for the third round, we will use four supreme true treasures to exchange for the final stone.”

******

The negotiation process had both sides speaking with gritted teeth. They both took firm, resolute stands… Various means were deployed, all of which served to sound out each other’s baselines.

Between them, North True Star Master played the role of the messenger.

The deal between Luo Feng and East Emperor Ancestor was finally settled.

The terms of the deal were: For the first round, two supreme true treasures would be used as collateral, and out of the two, one was to be a palace type supreme true treasure. The reason Luo Feng made such a request was because if he wanted to wander and roam in the three most dangerous lands within Universe Ocean, a palace type supreme true treasure would be urgently required, which made it extremely precious.

For the second round, four supreme true treasures would be used to exchange for the next memory stone.

For the third round, four supreme true treasures would be used to exchange for the final memory stone.

The venue for exchange: within Universe Ocean, inside the degenerated and dilapidated Miniature Universe No. 00921. The time: Further notice would be provided upon Luo Feng’s safe return to the primal universe.

******

Inside the Boat of Mausoleum.

“Hahaha…” Luo Feng could hold back no longer and let out a hearty laugh. “Two supreme true treasures! With these two supreme true treasures… if Huge Axe Creator, who already has a godly axe, is equipped with a palace type supreme true treasure, he will have no trouble dominating Universe Ocean. He could be invincible.”

Luo Feng was very satisfied with this outcome. Huge Axe Creator might have been powerful, but he had yet to be considered invincible. Since his godly axe was an attack type, it was lacking in terms of ability to defend. This was partly why Huge Axe maintained a low profile despite being such a powerful figure.

“But there is something strange. Throughout the entire Universe Ocean, only the two ancestors from the two holy lands are able to see the information stored within the deeper level of the memory stones.” Luo Feng tried to address his own doubts. “East Emperor Ancestor has already come looking for me. Why is Purple Moon Ancestor so quiet?”

“When he realized that he was unable to catch me, did it not occur to him to strike a deal with me?” Luo Feng speculated.

However, Luo Feng did not know much about these two ancestors. After all, for countless reincarnation eras, it had always been these two ancestors who stayed on. These two ancestors must have met with various extraordinary opportunities to make it so far. Now that East Emperor Ancestor had volunteered to fall under his mercy, Luo Feng would not feel any pity if he had to deal a vicious blow. But Purple Moon Ancestor made no move… so Luo Feng was careful to not make a reckless move.

“No matter what, only the things that are served on my plate are mine to devour,” Luo Feng said to himself. “I will first settle the deal with East Emperor Ancestor and get those two supreme true treasures first.”

The fact that Huge Axe Creator took a long time to obtain his godly axe spoke much about the difficulty involved in obtaining a supreme true treasure.

Star Tower had been a gift from Sitting Mountain Guest, yet the process of getting it to recognize him as its master was the one time he was brought close to meeting his doom.

The pair of white wings had been discovered only because Shi Wu Wings had sensed it.

And Blood Ghost Blade… Actually, Blood Ghost Blade was only a blade “embryo” and did not own any secret technique of its own. Luo Feng had injected it with the technique known as Nirvana Renaissance. Even though it was only a blade embryo, it was stronger than any other supreme true treasure! This was a piece of treasure that he had obtained with his own ability. After all, he had fought against numerous great beings and had undergone various selection processes to finally emerge as the heir to that inheritance.

******

The Boat of Mausoleum wandered about. At times, it would even head toward the dangerous areas on purpose. For instance, occasionally, it would charge its way into the lava ocean. Or occasionally, it would charge its way into a windstorm.

Deep within the internal domain, even pinnacle palace true treasures could be torn apart, but with his Boat of Mausoleum, Luo Feng dared venture into dangerous regions! This was because he was clearly aware of the power of the Boat of Mausoleum, and he had a detailed map of the Universe Boat, so he dared to roam about haphazardly just to force the universe supreme beings hot on his heels to give up.

“Loathsome!”

Amidst the endless black whirlwind floated a palace with a sharp peak. In the palace, five true masters of the Divine Eye clan were roaring as they looked out to see the Boat of Mausoleum leaving far off into the distance.

“Escape, escape, escape!” Even First True Master, who was usually composed and poised, could not hold back his rage and shouted furiously, “Give up! We will give up! It is pointless to continue chasing after him. I do not believe that this human, Luo Feng, can hide in his Boat of Mausoleum forever. The path of a great being shall always be fraught with life and death encounters to steel and hone one’s skills… I have never heard of any single great being who could steer clear of any battles and yet still become a seasoned and well-trained universe supreme master.

“Right, if he wants to become a universe supreme being, he has to succeed in this reincarnation era. He has to experience the life-and-death encounters to steel and hone his skills. He has gotten the inheritance of the pulse of Duan Dong River, so if he truly wants to steel and hone his skills, he has no other choice but to exchange blows with a universe supreme master or subject himself to risky adventures within the three most dangerous lands! Unless he does not want to become a universe supreme master. If not, he has to undergo life-and death-encounters, which he will have many chances to experience in the future!”

The various groups of powers were reluctant to give up.

*******

In the virtual universe, on a lone plane before Huge Axe godly palace.

“The various races have to give up in the end, haha…” Huge Axe Creator laughed heartily. “Luo Feng is truly brimming with confidence. I have told him about the dangers lurking in the outside world and asked him to inform us in advance when he has finished receiving the inheritance. I shall personally escort him to safety. I certainly did not expect him to say nothing before directly maneuvering that Boat of Mausoleum and charging his way out alone.”

“The Boat of Mausoleum is indeed extraordinary,” Primal Chaos City Leader said, also nodding.

Suddenly, a figure appeared.

“Luo Feng,” Primal Chaos City Leader said in surprise.

Huge Axe Creator rose to his feet to express his welcome.

“Teacher, Huge Axe Creator,” Luo Feng said with a smile. “I have a piece of good news for both of you.”