Swallowed Star

Unknown words on the stone walls gave rise to strong emotions that caused Luo Feng to feel as though he was under the impact of a crazy storm. Near his ears, there was a vague, low growl that sounded—as though an ancient, great being was roaring.

“Dying one after the other, dying one by one, no one can escape. No one can! I am filled with reluctance, so reluctant!”

Soon after, Luo Feng regained consciousness.

“These words contained an emotion so strong, and also, they contained his willpower.”

Luo Feng was speechless learning about this.

“An intimidating existence that was annihilated during a reincarnation era that no one knew when, leaving behind mere words; to be able to achieve this, how powerful he must be! Besides, these words and the words transmitted by the true treasure are the same. True treasures, one by one being born, yet no one knew who created them. The primal universe? Universe Ocean, or another… Now, from the looks of it, many true treasures that have been handed down may be related to a tyrannical civilization that had been annihilated.”

Luo Feng speculated to himself, then turned to look at his teacher beside him.

Sitting Mountain Guest looked on without a word. Given his power, he would not be influenced by the strong emotions exuded by those words, but the expression on his face was vaguely sad. It took a while before he slowly shook his head. Then, looking at Luo Feng, he said, “Luo Feng, the mysterious great being who left these words behind is stronger than me. Stronger than any other universe supreme master. I suppose even Teacher Origin of the human race may not be able to defeat this great being. Only the Original Ancestor of the Two Holy Land Universes might somehow be comparable. How strong he was, yet his end was so tragic…”

Sitting Mountain Guest shook his head and continued, “As of today, our Universe Ocean is active across the three reincarnation eras and two holy land universes. But thousands and millions of reincarnation eras later, who or which race and clan could survive? This is something we do not know.”

Luo Feng was momentarily taken aback.

That was quite true. They would not be able to live that long, so long as they could live through three more reincarnation eras; nowadays, for a large number of great beings, only those from the two holy places could survive through countless years. Besides, it would be too difficult to create another Holy Land Universe for them to live.

“Teacher.” Luo Feng’s gaze was sharp as a blade, and in a light but firm tone, he said, “We may only have a glimmer of hope, but at least the Two Holy Lands are still there. We can still see hope! No matter what, we have to give it our best shot! I have only lived for merely hundreds of thousands of years. That is far too short compared to one reincarnation era; being able to reach where I am today, what about millions and billions of years…? Or even much longer than that, I am certain I can reach higher grounds! If there is no path ahead, I will make my own path. Besides, this is not unprecedented. There were great beings who succeeded before.”

Sitting Mountain Guest looked at Luo Feng, then smiled as he nodded. “Haha! I may have been slightly influenced by those words. Being young is definitely different. You are so full of vigor. With such vigor, you will be different from old fellows who have lived through endless, long periods yet have not been able to achieve any breakthroughs. Long periods have eroded their ardor. You should put your heart into this. Who knows? In the future, I might need to get help from you.”

“Get help from…?” Luo Feng’s heart skipped a beat.

“Let’s go,” Sitting Mountain Guest beckoned. “We should take a look to see what else this great being who lived here ages ago left behind.”

“All right.”

Luo Feng followed suit.

******

Luo Feng and Sitting Mountain Guest were both extraordinary beings. They toured around as streaks of light, and all they required was one sweeping glance of everything around them. Everything they scanned would be remembered well and taken to heart. And, naturally, their speeds would be extremely fast.

The entire island is incomparably quiet, thought Luo Feng. It is very different from the other places in Deep Abyss. There isn’t a single plant or a single valuable on this island. Just endless palaces…

Suddenly, ahead of him, Sitting Mountain Guest took a wide stride and—sou! He arrived faraway at the third palace within its palace hall.

“Luo Feng, come here.” Sitting Mountain Guest’s voice seemed a little agitated.

Luo Feng accelerated, and within an instant, he had arrived within the palace. In that massive palace, within its huge courtyard, there were several exquisitely adorned sculptures. In the same courtyard, there was also a gigantic stone wall meant for decorative purposes. It was around 1,000 meters tall and 2,000 meters wide. The entirety of it exuded an immeasurably strong aura.

“This is—” Luo Feng said.

He knew clearly at first glance that this stone wall contained countless diagrams of secret engravings. They were so small that they would have been measured on a nanometer scale and seemed to be embedded in the stone wall. It seemed to be their nest where they all finally converged to form a strange, huge, three-dimensional diagram of secret engravings

Hong!

An aura charged at Luo Feng’s consciousness.

The stone wall that was originally before them had undergone a complete change. Now, it seemed to contain another world that was filled with countless souls like life forms from the rock race, metal race, or even the flesh and the blood type. Billions of life forms were kneeling in a certain direction, worshipping as they chanted the same utterance in unison: “Devil split… Devil split…”

Devil split!

The intermittent sounds were like a tsunami.

“Luo Feng, wake up!”

The impact of a strong godly power caused Luo Feng to wake up in shock.

“Teacher—!”

Luo Feng turned to look at Teacher, feeling overwhelmed with shock. It was so terrifying. What technique was this? He had studied diagrams of secret engravings and had meticulously studied the diagram of secret engravings of miniature universe, but when comparing the diagram of secret engravings of a miniature universe to the stone wall before him—which contained a diagram of a vast and mysterious secret engraving—it was like comparing a single blazing flame to an entire star.

Luo Feng would have bet that the scene he had witnessed earlier had been caused by the diagram of secret engravings on that stone wall… Whatever being created that engraving, if the technique was really executed to unleash its true potential, it would be so powerful that billions of souls would submit to it. Or at least universe masters would not be able to resist it and would be enslaved to it in an instant.

“You are quite a gutsy one,” said Sitting Mountain Guest. “The moment you arrived, you went straight to look at the stone wall filled up by that diagram of secret engravings. The engravings on this stone wall were a legacy left by an ancient existence. They are profound beyond imagination. Even I am only able to understand a tiny bit of it.” Sitting Mountain Guest pointed to somewhere far off to one side and said, “I think you should take a look at this side first.”

Luo Feng looked in the direction his teacher was pointing. There was a wall in the courtyard. On the wall were some words. The meaning was apparent with just one look. These were the last words left behind by the same great being from earlier—the same one who had left the crazy words carrying such strong emotions.

“I’ve finally achieved a breakthrough, but death shall befall me soon.”

“How reluctant I am.”

“How regretful I am.”

“But it’s too late… Everything is too late. One by one, they all died. I attained a higher level of achievement and comprehended my greatest technique, but still, I was too late. This diagram of secret engravings represented lost knowledge, during my highest peak, highest peak…”

Brief as they might have been, these words seemed to convey thoughts that sounded more sad than angry.

Looking at the message left behind on the stone wall, Luo Feng suddenly realized that the incredible diagram of secret engraving that seemed to be embedded onto the wall actually represented that great being’s highest peak.

“This is not the first time I have made such a discovery.” Sitting Mountain Guest said. “In the three most dangerous lands, some core grounds have monuments that were left by super beings from countless reincarnation eras ago. The number of monuments that I have come across so far, including this time, is nine. Some of them are very useful while the others are completely useless.”

Luo Feng nodded. He had also obtained the relic of Jie Fanzi before, so he could understand what his Teacher meant. Universe supreme masters who could make it to the core ground of the three most dangerous lands would be able to discover various relics. This was nothing strange at all.

“This being merely wanted to prove himself.” Sitting Mountain Guest shook his head. “He had no intentions of passing down any inheritance, because if he had wanted to pass down any, even if there wasn’t detailed guidance, he would have left at least a dozen diagrams of secret engravings, from bottom to top, for the later generations to contemplate and study. Yet he only left behind an extremely powerful set of diagrams of secret engravings! Even I find it impossible to cultivate. Who else can achieve the cultivation of this? The Divine Eye Clan got lucky before, to discover a set of complete inherited monuments left behind by an ancient existence.”

Sitting Mountain Guest sighed. “Why can’t I have such good luck…? Luo Feng, I told you not to look at the stone wall. Why are you looking at it again?” Sitting Mountain Guest could not help nagging Luo Feng.

At this point in time, Luo Feng’s gaze was fixated on the stone wall. What he was observing was only one of the corners of the wall; it was not like before, where he was looking at the entire diagram. In that corner—which was probably only 1/10,000th of the whole diagram of secret engravings—he could see countless miniature diagrams of secret engravings constructed around one another, to the extent that they pierced into the stone wall. There was a strange kind of feeling. It was as though the universe was the fundamental particle and fundamental particles were reassembling to construct a soul.

Those miniature diagrams of secret engravings were all very exquisite. Luo Feng was completely mesmerized by the way they were constructed.

“Gold, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, lightning, electricity, and light rays? Time and space? Fusion Laws? What nonsense. None of these—this is something entirely different. It was more miraculous, more unpredictable…”

Luo Feng was completely taken aback.

Suddenly—

“Luo Feng, wake up!” Sitting Mountain Guest shouted.

Luo Feng turned to look at his teacher. “Teacher, this time, I am not influenced by the music. I am clear-minded and awake.”

“You have been looking at it for more than three days.” Sitting Mountain Guest shook his head out of helplessness. “Would I have been standing here all this time? This diagram of secret engraving is mystical and unpredictable, but it does not conform to my path in life.”

“Ah…! Three days?” Luo Feng was shocked; his entire mind and body had been immersed within for so long. Time really flew by quickly.

“Teacher, this diagram of secret engravings is extremely profound, I think even if I had billions of years, I would still be unable to fathom it thoroughly. However, from its most fundamental structure, I realized… the flow of diagrams of these secret engravings was like a mirror of my life, showing me that my achievement in the studies of diagrams of secret engravings have been stagnant at the universe knight limit for far too long. I feel that this is my chance for a breakthrough.”

Sitting Mountain Guest laughed. “Haha! Yes, it may not be useful to me, but studying these diagrams has been a part of you for some time. The study of diagrams of secret engravings is required to continue observing more and more diagrams of secret engravings. The more you study, the higher the possibility of a breakthrough. You were here for three days, and so I have been looking at them for three days. I, too, have comprehended some of them. From within, I have comprehended five of these diagrams. You should come take a look!”

Hua!

Sitting Mountain Guest pointed to the towering wall in the neighboring courtyard, and on the stone wall, countless fine secret engravings suddenly appeared. One after another, large diagrams of secret engravings appeared—all of which were much more profound than the diagram of secret engraving of a miniature universe. They were the five major diagrams of secret engravings, and they were etched onto five different parts of the wall.

“These five major diagrams of secret engravings, from what I comprehended, all have 1/1,000th the power of that lost knowledge,” Sitting Mountain Guest said. “With this as a stepping stone, you will be able to gain an understanding of it faster.”

Luo Feng gazed at the five major diagrams of secret engravings and could not help but feel shocked. This was, indeed, an entity capable of making supreme true treasures. His capability was intimidatingly strong.

“Stop looking, it is time to head out.” Sitting Mountain Guest laughingly said, “This island is very quiet, and there isn’t much danger around. You only need to leave behind one body with your godly power to slowly build on your understanding. Do you know… in the outside world, there is a big commotion going on. I can already sense the great waves from outside, I think there might be a fight between universe supreme masters.”

“A fight between universe supreme masters?” Luo Feng was taken aback.

“Otherwise, I would not have woken you up.” Sitting Mountain Guest laughed. “Leave a body with your godly power here. It may be weaker, but there is no one to attack it, so it will be fine. You can leave it here to cultivate and gain comprehension at ease. Let’s go. We shall go and take a look. If we make it in time, maybe we can still see the battle in action. Tsk tsk… Who knows? The ones involved may possibly be Huge Axe Creator of your human race.”