Swallowed Star 2: Origin Continent

Chapter 67: Heart Shadow Sect

In Shiguo, within the vast city of Xuyin, inside an enormous cave residence spanning billions of kilometers in length and width, resided the sect known as the Heart Shadow Sect.

A man draped in a gray robe sat atop a mountain peak, his three eyes gazing at the boundless night sky, feeling a sense of confusion within.

“The Origin Continent is boundless, yet there is no place for my Heart Shadow Sect to take root,” the three-eyed man sighed silently. “All the territories have long been occupied by various powerful nations and forces. Even the most marginal and dangerous places have been claimed by the ancient natives of the Origin Continent.”

“Our Heart Shadow Sect just needs a large city to establish ourselves.”

“But within any nation, every Chaos State has its own ruler. How could they possibly give us a large city?” The three-eyed man felt quite helpless.

“The foundation of the sect relies on the ‘Chaos Ruins.’ Only by being near the Chaos Ruins do the sect disciples have a slight hope of reaching the Chaos Realm. Otherwise, there isn’t even a shred of hope. Moreover, the expenses for the many disciples of the sect are too great. Only a large city with a constant influx of resources can support the sect’s development.” The three-eyed man had a headache.

“But without seeing hope for a long time, the Heart Shadow Sect will only grow weaker, and more disciples will leave.”

“As the sect leader of the Heart Shadow Sect, I now command only less than one-fifth of the disciples compared to when we were at our peak.” The three-eyed man felt powerless.

He still maintained the orthodox Heart Shadow Sect.

“The Heart Shadow Sect was established by a Divine King. Even though the Divine King has fallen, before the split, the sect had three Chaos Overlords,” the three-eyed man felt a deep sadness.

“But of the three Chaos Realm beings, one died and the other two fled. With no Chaos Realm beings to oversee the Heart Shadow Sect, it kept splitting and more disciples kept leaving.”

“Even I have to rely on the protection of Marquis Liu Yin to maintain the name ‘Heart Shadow Sect!’” the three-eyed man muttered to himself.

Marquis Liu Yin was very powerful.

Among the many Chaos Realm Overlords of Shiguo, he ranked in the top five, a terrifying existence.

The Heart Shadow Sect indeed had a great enemy, which caused the deaths and escapes of the three Chaos Realm beings.

But Marquis Liu Yin only protected the Heart Shadow Sect disciples below the Chaos Realm. Given his status, the sect’s great enemy could only tolerate it.

“Hmm?” The three-eyed man’s senses detected a figure condensed from blood-colored flames appearing beside him out of thin air.

“Lord Marquis!” The three-eyed man immediately stood up and showed utmost respect.

Marquis Liu Yin looked at him and said, “Every large city within Shiguo has its own ruler, and even some branches of great clans and royal families are involved. I can’t secure a sect foundation for you.”

“Your protection of the Heart Shadow Sect is already deeply appreciated,” the three-eyed man said respectfully.

“Now, I am giving you an opportunity to obtain a sect foundation!” Marquis Liu Yin said.

The three-eyed man’s eyes lit up. “Please give your orders, Lord Marquis.”

He had been waiting for this day for a long time.

“Adjacent to my fief lies the Jiugang Chaos State, which has three large cities: Huyang City, Xuyin City, and Jiugang City. Jiugang Marquis resides in Jiugang City. I need your Heart Shadow Sect to help me capture Huyang City and Xuyin City. As for Jiugang City, you won’t need to act,” Marquis Liu Yin said.

“Capture two large cities?” The three-eyed man felt the pressure. “Attacking the fief of Jiugang Marquis might provoke him to act.”

Attacking a Chaos Overlord’s fief would understandably lead to a response.

“I will give you a time-space treasure,” Marquis Liu Yin said. “Once Jiugang Marquis acts, I will use this treasure to traverse time and space and deal with him personally.”

The three-eyed man sighed in relief.

“Don’t worry. There is an understanding in the conflict between Shiguo and Yuguo. Eternal True Gods battle each other, and Chaos Overlords don’t easily intervene. Jiugang Marquis will try his best to mobilize Eternal True Gods. Unless pushed to the brink, he won’t act personally,” Marquis Liu Yin said. “Even if pushed, completely severing Jiugang Chaos State, I doubt he would dare to act.”

The three-eyed man nodded. “Jiugang Marquis is no match for you, Lord Marquis!”

“I actually look forward to him acting!” Marquis Liu Yin was somewhat eager. At their level, they adhered to rules strictly.

After all, Shiguo and Yuguo were both powerful nations.

The king of Shiguo had a special relationship with the Ancient Flame Kingdom, while the king of Yuguo was also a guest official of the Ancient Flame Kingdom. Both sides had their backing.

Therefore, when Master Zuo Shan Ke fled the Origin Continent, Shiguo and Yuguo were already neighbors.

Now that Master Zuo Shan Ke had returned, and Luo Feng had ventured into reincarnation.

Shiguo and Yuguo remained neighbors, with only slight changes in their border territories.

Neither great nation dared to break the rules easily, as the cost of doing so would be immense.

“I will provide you with detailed intelligence on Jiugang Chaos State. Pay particular attention to an Eternal True God named Luo He,” Marquis Liu Yin said.

“Understood!” The three-eyed man responded and asked, “Lord Marquis, after capturing the two large cities, where will the Heart Shadow Sect be based?”

“Huyang City will be yours!” Marquis Liu Yin said. “You only need to give me twenty percent of the residence fees from Huyang City’s inhabitants every era, and twenty percent to the Divine Kings. The remaining sixty percent, you can keep. Additionally, the royal capital will not send any administrators. The entire city will be under your control.”

“Yes!” The three-eyed man was somewhat excited.

Apart from the requirement to pay forty percent of the residence fees every era, the entire Huyang City would belong to the Heart Shadow Sect.

This gave the Heart Shadow Sect a foundation for long-term development.

A large city with a massive population could continuously bring in vast resources.

Residence fees were the most important, but other resources were also plentiful.

“The premise is that you must capture Huyang City and Xuyin City!” Marquis Liu Yin said. “You need to prepare well, and it’s best to recall some of the disciples who left. Jiugang Chaos State is not an easy target.”

“Understood!” The three-eyed man knew very well that although Jiugang Marquis would be dealt with by Marquis Liu Yin, the many Eternal True Gods under Jiugang Marquis and the elite forces they could mobilize were not to be trifled with.

They had to summon the disciples who had left to ensure the Heart Shadow Sect had enough strength to suppress their opponents.

He didn’t want to be severely weakened after capturing the two cities.

Marquis Liu Yin nodded.

“Although the Heart Shadow Sect was established by a Divine King and still has two Chaos Realm beings in exile, the foundation is deep. They should be able to capture Jiugang Chaos State,” Marquis Liu Yin thought.

He assigned this tough task to the Heart Shadow Sect. He didn’t mind if many disciples of the Heart Shadow Sect died.

—

Huyang City.

Chaos Armor No. 913 Cave Residence.

This cave residence was a relatively small one in the Chaos Armor District, not very conspicuous. But now, it was the most prestigious cave residence in Huyang City, with many visitors coming, yet unable to meet Divine Lord Luo He.

In the underground hall within the Star Tower, Morosa naturally continued to devour and absorb the divine body.

Luo Feng was gathering intelligence through the Yan Feng Pavilion’s Dark Hall.

Comparing the information with that from the Jin Divine King lineage and the Undying River of the Broken Eastern River lineage, he decided on what treasures to buy.

“In terms of the Chaos Law, I still need time to accumulate. But in terms of willpower, I should be close to a breakthrough.”

“I’ll first buy a rare treasure for willpower cultivation,” Luo Feng thought.

If his willpower could break through to the Divine King level, his ability to handle danger would greatly improve.

“The rare treasures for willpower cultivation are all extremely expensive.” Luo Feng felt pained. Unfortunately, his own willpower was already at the peak of the Chaos Overlord level.

Ordinary rare treasures wouldn’t help much.

He had to buy rare treasures used by Chaos Overlords, which were naturally very expensive.

“With my current wealth, I can only afford a relatively cheaper one.” Luo Feng immediately contacted the Dark Hall of the Yan Feng Pavilion.

“I want to buy a ‘Calamity Beast Diagram.’”

“Divine Lord Luo He, the Calamity Beast Diagram is a personal drawing by an ancient entity of the Ancient Flame Kingdom. Even just viewing a corner of the diagram requires the willpower of the Chaos Realm. Anyone with willpower below that level would go completely mad just by glancing at a corner,” the Dark Hall responded.

“Are you sure you still want to buy it?”

“Yes!”

Luo Feng didn’t hesitate.

For such a valuable item, he had long gathered information to make sure.

“The publicly available Calamity Beast Diagram from our Yan Feng Pavilion is priced at 15 million Cosmos Sand,” the Dark Hall responded. “You just need to pay at any branch of the Dark Hall, and the diagram will be delivered to you within ten days.”

Luo Feng felt the pinch. Fifteen million Cosmos Sand for a single diagram.

But there was

no other way. Among the rare treasures commonly used by Chaos Overlords for willpower cultivation, the Calamity Beast Diagram ranked in the top three for cost-effectiveness.

Among the top three, the Calamity Beast Diagram was the cheapest.

Cheap, effective, and relatively low risk.

For Chaos Overlords, this price was indeed cheap.

Some rare treasures even cost over a hundred million Cosmos Sand.

For Chaos Overlords with fiefs and a constant influx of residence fees, even a hundred million Cosmos Sand could be managed with some effort.

“With my current wealth, this is the best rare treasure for willpower cultivation I can afford.” Luo Feng felt that compared to Chaos Overlords, he was still too poor.

—

Meanwhile, under the night sky, Jiugang Marquis’s subordinates had already arrived in Huyang City.

“Second Brother!” An elderly man with white hair warmly greeted a young man with white hair, “This time, the Marquis personally instructed you to come.”

“The Marquis indeed attaches great importance to this. He personally instructed me, and I came as quickly as possible!” the young man, Jiang Yuyou, said. “Elder Brother, where is Divine Lord Luo He now?”

The elderly man replied, “In his cave residence. After killing Yutian Hu, Yutian Yi, and Divine Lord Xue Yun, he first went to Yan Feng Pavilion to collect the bounty, then returned to his cave residence and has not seen any visitors since.”

“I’m here on behalf of the Marquis. He won’t refuse to see me, will he?” Jiang Yuyou asked. “It would be embarrassing to be turned away at the door.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll have Moyu Hu contact his son Moyu Qingyan to confirm first, then we can pay a visit!” the elderly man said.