Swallowed Star 2: Land of Origin

Chapter 73: 2 Blade Light - Chapter 1 Heartshadow Sect

The Shi Kingdom, Liu Yin City, within a colossal cave mansion measuring hundreds of millions of kilometers, lies the stronghold of a sect called the Heartshadow Sect.

A three-eyed man draped in a grey robe sat on the mountaintop, his three eyes gazing into the vast night sky, yet feeling somewhat lost inside.

"The Land of Origin is boundless and endless, but there's no place for my Heartshadow Sect to take root," the three-eyed man sighed silently, "All the grand states and many powerful forces have long taken up every piece of land. Even the most marginal and dangerous areas are occupied by those ancient natives of the Land of Origin."

"Our Heartshadow Sect only needs a large city to establish a stronghold in."

"But within a state, every Primal Chaos Prefecture has its master, how can they possibly just give us a large city?" the three-eyed man felt pretty helpless.

"The foundation of a sect relies on the 'Primal Chaos Ruins'; only near the Primal Chaos Ruins does the sect disciples have a sliver of hope in becoming Primal Chaos Realm. Otherwise, there's no hope at all.

Moreover, the large number of disciples in the sect consumes too much, only the endless resources of a large city can support the development of the sect," the three-eyed man was very troubled, "But without hope for a long time, the Heartshadow Sect will only grow weaker, and more disciples will leave."

"As the master of the Heartshadow Sect, I'm only commanding less than twenty percent of the full complement of disciples from the sect's heyday," the three-eyed man felt powerless too.

He was still upholding the true lineage of the Heartshadow Sect.

Those that had split off had long since formed their own factions, even changing their names.

"My Heartshadow Sect was a grand faction established by a Godly King, even after the Godly King's fall, before the split there were three Primal Chaos Overlords within the sect," the three-eyed man just felt sad, "But with one dead and two escaped... the Heartshadow Sect, without the protection of the Primal Chaos Realm, kept splintering and losing disciples."

"Even I have to rely on the protection of Marquis Liu Yin to maintain the 'Heartshadow Sect' name," the three-eyed man silently said.

Marquis Liu Yin is very powerful.

Among all the Primal Chaos Realm masters in the Shi Kingdom, he is a terrifying existence that can be ranked in the top five.

The Heartshadow Sect indeed has a formidable enemy! It led to the death of one and the escape of two among the three Primal Chaos Realm masters of the sect; however, with Marquis Liu Yin merely protecting a group of Heartshadow Sect disciples below the Primal Chaos Realm, that formidable enemy of the Heartshadow Sect could only tolerate it.

"Hm?" The three-eyed man sensed something, looking to his side as the figure of a blood-red fiery silhouette materialized out of thin air.

"Marquis," the three-eyed man immediately stood up, showing his utmost respect.

Marquis Liu Yin looked at him and said, "Every large city within the territory of the Shi Kingdom has its masters, and there are even branches of great clans and the Royal Family involved in each of them. I'm unable to secure a foundation for your sect."

"Just for Marquis Liu Yin's protection, we at the Heartshadow Sect are already endlessly grateful," said the three-eyed man with utmost respect.

"Now I'm giving you an opportunity to secure a foundation for your sect," stated Marquis Liu Yin.

The three-eyed man's eyes brightened, "Marquis, please command me!"

He had been waiting for this day!

Without the nod from a Godly King or Primal Chaos Overlord, the Heartshadow Sect did not dare to forcefully occupy any large city.

"There are three large cities in the adjoining 'Jiu Jiang Primal Chaos Prefecture' to my fief," said Marquis Liu Yin, "They are Huyang City, Xuyin City, and Jiu Jiang City. Among them, the Marquis of Jiu Jiang lives in Jiu Jiang City. I need your Heartshadow Sect to help me capture Huyang City and Xuyin City! As for Jiu Jiang City... there's no need for you to make a move."

"Capture two large cities?" The three-eyed man felt the pressure too, "If we attack the Marquis of Jiu Jiang's fiefs, the Marquis of Jiu Jiang will likely take action."

After all, if they attack the fief of a Primal Chaos Overlord, it would be natural for the opposite party to react.

"I will bestow upon you a space-time treasure," said Marquis Liu Yin, "If the Marquis of Jiu Jiang takes action, I will utilize this treasure to traverse space-time and arrive directly. I will personally deal with the Marquis of Jiu Jiang."

The three-eyed man breathed a sigh of relief.

"Rest assured, there is a tacit understanding in the conflict between the Shi Kingdom and Yu Kingdom, and eternal true gods will fight each other, but Primal Chaos Overlords won't easily step in. The Marquis of Jiu Jiang will do everything possible to mobilize eternal true gods.

Unless driven to desperation, it's unlikely for him to take action personally," said Marquis Liu Yin, "Even if pushed to the brink, and we fully occupy the entire Jiu Jiang Primal Chaos Prefecture, I doubt he would dare to make a move."

The three-eyed man nodded, "Facing Marquis Liu Yin, the Marquis of Jiu Jiang is naturally no match."

"I'm actually somewhat looking forward to his intervention," Marquis Liu Yin commented with anticipation.

At their level, they follow strict rules.

After all, both the Shi Kingdom and the Yu Kingdom are powerful states. The Master of the Shi Kingdom has a special relationship with the Flame Wind Ancient Country, but the Monarch of Yu Country is also a Guest Elder in the Flame Wind Ancient Country; both sides have connections.

That is why when Mountain Sitting Guest first fled the Land of Origin, the Shi Kingdom and Yu Kingdom were situated side by side.

Now, as Mountain Sitting Guest has returned and Luo Feng has penetrated the cycle of reincarnation, the Shi Kingdom and Yu Kingdom are still neighbors, with only minor changes in the borderlands.

The two great nations dare not easily break the rules, because the price for breaking them would be very, very high.

"I will give you detailed intelligence on Jiu Jiang Primal Chaos Prefecture, with a specific emphasis on an eternal true god called Lord Luo He," said Marquis Liu Yin.

"Yes," the three-eyed man replied, asking, "Marquis, after capturing the two large cities, where will the Heartshadow Sect be stationed?"

"Huyang City will be given to you," Marquis Liu Yin said. "You only need to give me twenty percent of the residence fee collected from the citizens of Huyang City every century, and another twenty percent to the God Kings. You can keep the remaining sixty percent, and the entire Huyang City... the Royal Capital won't send a manager, the entire city will be managed by you."

"Yes," the three-eyed man said, somewhat excited.

Apart from having to pay forty percent of the residence fee every century, the entire Huyang City would now belong to the Heartshadow Sect, thus providing a solid foundation for its long-term development.

A large city with a vast population was a source of unending resources. Even though the residence fee was the most important, there were also plenty of other resources to be had.

"The prerequisite is that you must capture Huyang City and Xuyin City," Marquis Liu Yin said. "You need to prepare well, and it would be best to call back some disciples who have left. Jiu Jiang Primal Chaos Prefecture is not that easy to deal with."

"I understand," the three-eyed man was very aware of the situation. Although Marquis Jiu Jiang had Marquis Liu Yin to contend with, the large group of eternal true gods under Marquis Jiu Jiang's command, as well as the elite forces they could muster, were not to be trifled with.

They must call back the disciples who left! To make the Heartshadow Sect strong enough! To form a power that overwhelms the opposition! He did not want to capture two large cities only to be severely weakened afterward.

Marquis Liu Yin nodded.

"After all, the Heartshadow Sect was established by a Godly King and even now there are two Primal Chaos Realm fugitives outside, with deep-rooted influence. They should be able to capture Jiu Jiang Primal Chaos Prefecture," Marquis Liu Yin thought to himself.

He would leave such a tough job to the Heartshadow Sect. If a bunch of disciples from the sect died, Marquis Liu Yin would not feel a thing.

…

In Huyang City, within Cave Mansion 913 of the Primal Chaos Armor Sector, this mansion was one of the smaller ones in the sector, inconspicuous, but it had now become one of the most prestigious within the whole of Huyang City. It had many visitors, yet none could even see a glimpse of Lord Luo He.

Underground in the ceremonial hall within Star Tower.

Morosa was naturally absorbing and digesting the godly body; Luo Feng, through the Flame Wind Association's Dark Hall, was gathering intelligence, comparing it with information from the God King Jin lineage and the Duan Dong River lineage to decide what treasures to buy.

"As for the Primal Chaos Laws, I still need more time to accumulate. But in terms of willpower, I should be close to making a breakthrough."

"I'll buy a strange treasure that aids in willpower cultivation first," Luo Feng resolved to himself.

If his own willpower could break through to the Godly King Level, then his ability to deal with danger would greatly increase.

"Treasures that assist in cultivating willpower are all incredibly expensive," Luo Feng lamented. No option, because his own will was at the peak of Primal Chaos Overlord; common strange treasures could be ignored for his purposes.

He had to buy a treasure used by Primal Chaos Overlords; naturally, every single one was very expensive.

"I can only afford one of the cheaper ones," Luo Feng immediately contacted the Flame Wind Association's Dark Hall. "I would like to purchase a 'Calamity Beast Diagram.'"

"Lord Luo He, the Calamity Beast Diagram is personally rendered by an ancient being of the Flame Wind Ancient Country. Even just looking at a corner of the Calamity Beast Diagram requires a willpower of the Primal Chaos Realm level. If your willpower is below that of the Primal Chaos Realm, even catching a glimpse of a corner would drive you completely mad," the Dark Hall responded.

"Are you sure you still want to purchase it?"

"I need to buy it," Luo Feng was adamant. Such an expensive item he had already verified through gathering information.

"Our Flame Wind Association publicly sells each copy of the Calamity Beast Diagram for a fixed price of 15 million Cosmic Sand," the Dark Hall replied. "You just need to pay the fee at any of our Dark Hall branches, and within ten days, the Calamity Beast Diagram will be delivered to you."

Luo Feng felt the pain in his wallet.

Fifteen million Cosmic Sand for one diagram.

But there was no choice, out of the willpower cultivation treasures that Primal Chaos Overlords often used, the Calamity Beast Diagram ranked in the top three in terms of cost-effectiveness. This top three—the cheapest was the Calamity Beast Diagram.

Cheap, effective, with a lower degree of risk.

To Primal Chaos Overlords, indeed this price was considered very cheap. Some more expensive treasures could even cost over a hundred million Cosmic Sand! For Primal Chaos Overlords, who owned a fiefdom and had a constant supply of residence fees, even a treasure costing upwards of a hundred million Cosmic Sand was within their means, albeit with some gritted teeth.

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

…

Meanwhile, under the cover of night, an emissary from Marquis Jiu Jiang had already arrived in Huyang City.

"Brother," the white-haired elder greeted warmly a white-haired youth. "To think that Marquis personally sent you on this mission."

"The Marquis indeed places great importance on this matter; he instructed me personally, so I had to rush here as quickly as possible," the white-haired youth, Jiang Yuyou, said. "Big brother, where is Lord Luo He right now?"

The white-haired elder answered: "He's in his cave mansion. After killing Yutian Xu, Yutian Yi, and Xue Yun, he first went to collect the bounty at the Flame Wind Pavilion. After that, he returned to his mansion and has refused all visitors."

"I'm here on behalf of Marquis to meet with him; he won't refuse to see me," Jiang Yuyou asked, "It would be embarrassing to be turned away at the mansion gate."

"Don't worry, I've asked Moyu Hu to contact his son, Moyu Qingyan, first to make sure everything is in order before we pay a visit," the white-haired elder explained.