Swallowed Star 2: Origin Continent-Chapter 282 : Return (Happy New Year)

Chapter 282: Return (Happy New Year)

A vast world had already been twisted, and within it, a new world had formed.

Inside this newly born world, birds chirped and flowers bloomed, yet an enormous creature, seemingly sculpted from pure ice, lay within. Under the radiance of light, its form shimmered brilliantly. This massive, icy creature exhaled endless mist that spread across more than half of the Three Thousand Worlds—yet it never touched a single cultivator.

It was none other than the low-rank Primordial Lifeform known as the Frostmare Envoy.

“Where are the cultivators? Where?” The Frostmare Envoy sounded rather agitated. It specialized in ice-type and some soul-type techniques, but this time, the cultivators were hiding far away, enveloping it in a terrifying formation.

“Three Thousand Worlds, Heaven and Earth Kill!”

A cold voice rang out.

Instantly, billions of sword lights appeared within the world. Countless blades turned like gears, coordinating intricately with the formation, exponentially amplifying its power—so much so that it drove the Frostmare Envoy into despair.

“No—!” the Frostmare Envoy wailed as the flood of sword lights engulfed it, tearing through its body and splitting open its core.

Before such overwhelming power, it could do nothing.

Its shattered body dropped from the sky.

Only then did Emperor Qing appear, raising his hand to store away the enormous corpse.

Although the sword lights had sliced through the body, the actual damage was minimal. It could still fetch a high price.

“Impressive.” Luo Feng appeared at the side and praised, “Brother Emperor Qing, you’re much cleaner and more decisive than I am! And this Three Thousand Killing Array… it’s far more profound than during our sparring match back on the Origin Continent.”

Back then, during their duel on the Origin Continent, Emperor Qing had also used the Three Thousand Killing Array, but it hadn’t been this refined.

“I brought a treasure formation diagram with me. I spent five million Primordial Crystals on it. It’s a half-Primordial level diagram,” Emperor Qing said with a smile. “With this diagram, the Three Thousand Killing Array becomes much stronger. I just happened to be a natural counter to that Frostmare Envoy.”

Luo Feng nodded.

Emperor Qing was, after all, a Seeker who had one foot into mid-stage God Emperor. His foundational realm was deeper, and with a suitable treasure formation diagram, the power he could unleash indeed exceeded Luo Feng’s.

…

Rumble—

Vast lightning surged wildly, flashing in all directions.

Luo Feng’s World Form did its best to entangle the enemy, but this time, the terrifying bolt of lightning had no intention to battle. It was solely focused on escaping, forcefully piercing through the edge of the Three Thousand Worlds and vanishing in a flash.

“That was my mistake.” Emperor Qing appeared beside him, shaking his head. “Brother Luo Feng, you even forced that Thunder Lynx to reveal its true form with your will-based secret technique, and I still failed to kill it in one blow. It immediately snapped out of its daze and fled.”

“We both did our best.” Luo Feng felt he'd learned something valuable from the experience.

They had used both a curse forbidden move and Lieu Yuan Technique to blast out the true form of the Thunder Lynx, which had been hidden in a cluster of clouds. Though it looked like a small beast, its ability to preserve its life was extraordinary. Even in its dazed state, it had endured Emperor Qing’s full-force strike with the formation. Despite this, it managed to deflect 90% of the power and forcibly escape the formation covering the Three Thousand Worlds.

“What a pity. Though it was just an early-stage God Emperor-level low-rank Primordial Lifeform, the lightning mysteries it carried were extraordinary. It was worth around three million Primordial Crystals. But it was just too hard to kill.” Emperor Qing sighed.

Luo Feng nodded again.

Low-rank Primordial Lifeforms were, after all, born outside the Caged World, naturally blessed with numerous innate talents.

Some were so gifted that they could even sneak into a heavily protected city like Rainlan City, which was guarded by numerous Elders and Hall Masters. As a result, even within Rainlan City, there were occasional cases of cultivators being assassinated by low-rank Primordial Lifeforms.

Still, such stealth attacks weren’t rampant. These beings knew that if they struck within the city, it could provoke a response from multiple Elders at once.

…

Luo Feng and Emperor Qing hunted together, and their coordination grew increasingly seamless. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Luo Feng’s Causal Form executed Heaven‑Severing Curse Art in combination with Lieu Yuan Technique, producing excellent results. Typically, it was enough to make early-stage God Emperor-level low-rank Primordial Lifeforms dazed, providing them a window for a killing blow.

Luo Feng would engage in close combat and entanglement, while Emperor Qing’s Three Thousand Killing Array closed in for the kill.

The Three Thousand Killing Array was more than ten times stronger than the projection combo of Luo Feng’s Heaven-and-Earth Form and World Projection.

One after another, early-stage God Emperor-level low-rank Primordial Lifeforms were slain by the two of them.

“Huff.”

Their Black Flying Boat moved silently as it glided through space. Luo Feng opened his forehead’s Simulated Eye of Life and Death, carefully observing the surroundings. Emperor Qing was also deploying his own detection method—the two used different techniques, each with their own strengths.

Not far from their flying boat, a massive creature was hidden in the void.

This colossal being seemed part of the void itself. It had tens of thousands of long limbs, which moved like a loom, weaving the fabric of space into a massive net.

Unknowingly, Luo Feng and Emperor Qing’s flying boat had already entered the net.

At this moment, the two of them were still unaware, cautiously scanning their surroundings.

Buzz.

Layer after layer of woven space nets enveloped them.

“Something’s wrong.” Emperor Qing suddenly frowned.

“What is it?” Luo Feng still hadn’t sensed anything; his spatial awareness was far inferior to Emperor Qing’s.

“Run!”

Though Emperor Qing couldn’t be certain, he had a vague feeling that something terrifying was lurking in the void.

Whoosh!

He instantly drove the Black Flying Boat to its limit. Just as it burst forth—

Layer after layer of spatial webs appeared, enveloping their previous location.

“It’s the Void Weaver!” Both Emperor Qing and Luo Feng recognized it, catching sight of its surging aura. From its immense size and overwhelming presence, they deduced its general strength.

“A Void Weaver at late-stage God Emperor!”

“Run!”

Neither of them hesitated. Even a mid-stage God Emperor Seeker would flee without a second thought. They had no intention of fighting.

Emperor Qing retracted the Black Flying Boat, which was now useless. Luo Feng’s Time Form took Emperor Qing into the future timeline.

Huff—

In the future timeline, the Time Form carried Emperor Qing as they fled.

They had previously discussed various escape strategies. Luo Feng’s treasures were relatively inexpensive, and his body was sturdy, built for close combat, making him the obvious choice to cover their retreat and protect Emperor Qing.

After all, Emperor Qing carried valuable items—treasure formation diagrams, the black flying boat, life-preserving artifacts—all worth over ten million Primordial Crystals. Plus, the six low-rank Primordial Lifeform corpses they had obtained were temporarily in Emperor Qing’s possession.

“Hm?”

While fleeing in the future timeline, the Time Form and Emperor Qing noticed strands of spatial thread seeping into the timeline and spreading toward them.

“This Void Weaver... it doesn’t just control space—it influences time, too?”

Luo Feng was helpless. His Time Form was an innate ability of an Ultimate Realm Primordial Bloodline Lifeform, capable of traversing past, present, and future simultaneously. Those who mastered the Path of Time to the Second Stage Divine King level had similar abilities.

For those unfamiliar with the Path of Time, Luo Feng’s escape method was formidable.

However, low-rank Primordial Lifeforms, by virtue of being beyond the Caged World, gained control over time, causality, and other forces as they grew stronger.

“Heaven‑Severing Curse Art! Lieu Yuan Technique!”

The Heaven‑Severing Curse Art, a forbidden move of the Path of Life and Death, when cast through the Causal Form, affected the Void Weaver.

Even before fully mastering the Origin Path, Luo Feng’s Mental Will had reached the God Emperor level. After countless years cultivating in the Dream Domain, it even surpassed the limits of the Origin Continent.

Later, having mastered the Paths of Life, Destruction, and Life-and-Death, his Mental Will had advanced unconsciously into the late-stage God Emperor level. This was the reward of a Seeker’s insight.

Of course, for God Emperors, as their realm deepened, their Mental Will would gradually reach a limit. Breaking through beyond that required leaping beyond the Caged World—a Mental Will on par with high-rank Primordial Lifeforms.

Breaking through this bottleneck was harder than any previous one.

So even beyond the Source World, among billions of powerful beings, those whose Mental Will reached the high-rank Primordial level were extremely rare.

Boom.

The Heaven‑Severing Curse Art accounted for 30% of the power, while Lieu Yuan Technique contributed the remaining 70%.

This temporarily slowed the Void Weaver’s pursuit.

“Huff.” That short delay allowed Luo Feng’s Time Form to carry Emperor Qing far away in the future timeline, escaping the Void Weaver’s range.

After all, its influence over time wasn’t particularly strong.

“I need to think of another way to escape.”

Emperor Qing had escaped.

Luo Feng faced the towering Void Weaver with a roar. His World Form split into three, each clone storing a hundredfold energy reserve—sufficiently powerful—and charged in three different directions.

“World Projection! Heaven-and-Earth As One!”

“Heaven-and-Earth Flight!”

“Kill!”

Three towering World Forms attacked the Void Weaver with unmatched ferocity.

…

Inside the Black Flying Boat.

“How did it go?” Emperor Qing looked at Luo Feng.

“The Void Weaver was too powerful,” Luo Feng shook his head. “Only my Heaven-and-Earth Form managed to escape amidst the chaos.”

Thanks to the Causal Form, World Form, and Heavenlight Form engaging in a desperate struggle, the Heaven-and-Earth Form had a chance to escape.

Its coverage area was vast, and once it began fleeing, its speed was extremely fast. The Heaven-and-Earth Form had also escaped with Luo Feng’s only treasure glove.

“I lost a lot of energy reserves.” Luo Feng felt a pang of regret. In the Origin Continent, such energy reserves would take hundreds of eras to absorb! Even in Rainlan City, where energy was more abundant, without assistance from a Small Universe, absorption was slower.

Maybe once his realm improved, the absorption speed would increase.

“Because you stayed behind, I could escape.” Emperor Qing smiled. “I didn’t even need to use my life-saving artifact.”

In the Jiugang Holy Realm, strong individuals placed great value on such items.

Especially among the countless world powerhouses who didn’t have clones—they spared no expense on life-saving artifacts. Some were even capable of fleeing before half-Primordial-level beings.

Of course, the cheapest life-saving artifacts cost over a million Primordial Crystals. High-end ones had no price cap. Some innate treasures and treasure-grade artifacts from the Infinite Space Treasury were extraordinarily valuable.

“You lost so many clones and so much energy—I’ll count that as 500,000 Primordial Crystals,” Emperor Qing said.

“These six low-rank Primordial Lifeform corpses we harvested are worth around 6.5 million Primordial Crystals. Let’s estimate your share at 3.5 million, and I’ll take 3 million,” Emperor Qing concluded.

“Deal,” Luo Feng nodded.

Before forming a team, they had already agreed on such rules.

Spoils would be split evenly.

If danger arose, the side who took greater losses to secure the loot would be compensated first.

Luo Feng losing several hundredfold energy from his Perfect Divine Body was manageable—it could be restored with several hundred eras of cultivation. But if Emperor Qing had used his life-saving item, that would’ve cost 2 million Primordial Crystals.

Of course, Emperor Qing only had that one item. As a Source World lifeform with clone techniques, he preferred not to invest too heavily in such artifacts.

“We’ve earned enough. It’s time to head back,” Emperor Qing said. “The more prey we hunt, the higher the risk.”

While most enemies were early-stage God Emperor-level low-rank Primordial Lifeforms, the more they hunted, the greater the chance they’d encounter something stronger. This time it was just a late-stage Void Weaver. What if it had been a complete God Emperor-level one?

With only a two-million Primordial Crystal life-saving item, Emperor Qing might not have survived.

“Agreed.” Luo Feng nodded.

His clones were heavily depleted; his strength had plummeted. It was indeed time to return to Rainlan City. Fortunately, his clones stationed there still had sufficient energy reserves.

“With over three million Primordial Crystals, I should carefully study the Infinite Space Treasury’s offerings,” Luo Feng thought. Since he had mastered the Path of Life and Death, he could obtain better rewards from the Infinite Space.

Huff.

The Black Flying Boat cautiously began its return journey.

The closer they got to Rainlan City, the more they risked being robbed by other cultivators! Emperor Qing, experienced as he was, guided the boat in a wide arc, while Luo Feng used his Simulated Eye of Life and Death to scan the area. After a few close calls, they finally evaded the threats and safely returned to Rainlan City.

“We’re back.”

As the Black Flying Boat passed through the city gate, both Luo Feng and Emperor Qing let out a breath of relief.

—

Tomato wishes everyone a Happy Year of the Snake! May the new year bring you joy and may all your wishes come true!

During the New Year, Tomato will be visiting relatives and taking a short break.

From New Year’s Eve to the fifth day of the first lunar month, Tomato will be on holiday. Updates will resume on the sixth day of the month!