Swallowed Star 2: Origin Continent-Chapter 313 : Shadows Envelop

Chapter 313: Shadows Envelop

Rainlan City.

A fine drizzle drifted down, shrouding heaven and earth. Luo Feng, feeling restless after prolonged quiet contemplation, left his Cave Dwelling alone.

“The more one understands, the more one realizes how difficult it is to ‘escape the Prison Cage.’” Luo Feng thought to himself. His current goal was not to pursue a breakthrough in the Path of Life and Death, but rather to comprehend the mysteries of those Primordial Bloodlines—how they achieved a state of “natural perfection and complete unity.”

If one could achieve natural perfection and complete unity, one could completely break through the Prison Cage and reach a new realm of heaven and earth.

“I studied 323 Primordial Bloodlines of the Early-Stage God Emperor a full five times before finally setting them aside for now.” Each new round of comprehension brought new insights, but the gains grew smaller and smaller with each repetition.

Since purchasing these Primordial Bloodlines, Luo Feng had accumulated roughly 1,500 eras of study.

During those 1,500 eras, most of his time had been spent comprehending the Primordial Bloodlines of the Early-Stage God Emperor.

Only recently had he begun studying Mid-Stage God Emperor bloodlines, and he had just reached the thirty-fourth one.

“Every Mid-Stage God Emperor Primordial Bloodline brings far greater insights. After consecutively studying thirty-four of them, I can even feel stabbing pain in my soul.” Over these 1,500 eras, Luo Feng had continuously consumed various auxiliary cultivation treasures, placing a heavy burden on his soul.

Only now had he begun to rest.

“I can feel it…”

“Each Primordial Bloodline brings me one step closer to ‘escaping the Prison Cage.’ I must thoroughly study these bloodlines. I cannot rush.”

Luo Feng cherished these resources greatly.

At this moment, Luo Feng had a feeling: as long as he spent some time and effort carefully organizing and integrating everything, it would not take long before the Path of Life and Death reached the Late-Stage God Emperor level. Yet Luo Feng was not in a hurry.

The deeper the accumulation, the clearer his understanding of the Path of Life and Death, and the steadier the road he walked.

“No need to rush.”

Once the Path of Life and Death reached the Late-Stage God Emperor level, he would surpass the Three Hall Masters by an entire level. Even within the Dark Holy Realm, he would be an incomparably dazzling powerhouse.

But now, that realm was already within his reach.

Sometimes Luo Feng wondered whether he might truly be a peerless genius.

Other cultivators were trapped at bottlenecks forever, unable to break through.

Yet he advanced step by step, naturally breaking into higher levels.

“Compared with other cultivators, perhaps I can directly grasp the essence of the Path.” Luo Feng thought. The core essence of many Paths could be seen and grasped directly by him. Other cultivators merely circled around the outer edges of the Great Path.

“I feel many cultivators are mediocre. Perhaps in the eyes of Senior Yuan and the others, someone like me would also be considered mediocre.” Luo Feng smiled.

The drizzle continued to fall.

Rarely taking a break from cultivation, Luo Feng leisurely admired the city.

“Hahaha… hahaha…” A sorrowful laugh echoed from afar.

Luo Feng turned his head to look.

Rainlan City was vast. Beside a lake stood an old man drinking wine and laughing mournfully. Luo Feng could clearly sense the grief within that laughter.

“A cultivator at the Ultimate Divine King realm?” Luo Feng instantly saw through the old man’s strength. He immediately restrained his own aura, allowing it to barely reach the God Emperor level.

Luo Feng walked over.

“Brother, why the sorrow?” Luo Feng took out a jar of wine and tossed it over.

The old man caught it casually and took a drink. His eyes lit up, and he nodded. “Good wine! I was just feeling stifled earlier. Laughing it out helps, hahaha…”

“Stifled?” Luo Feng looked at him.

“I’m an Ultimate Divine King. I’ve been in Rainlan City for so long, doing odd jobs here and there. I still have to pay residence fees, Cave Dwelling rent, and so on. After tens of thousands of eras, I finally saved a little.” The old man said, “I wanted to buy some pills to help with a breakthrough. I managed to buy them, but on the way back… the pills were gone.”

“The pills were gone?” Luo Feng understood.

An Ultimate Divine King would never lose treasures by accident. There was only one possibility—they had been stolen.

When he had first arrived in Rainlan City, he had also experienced theft.

“We Ultimate Divine Kings are too weak. When we’re robbed, we don’t even notice.” The old man sighed. “In the past I didn’t care much when things were stolen. But this time… it was all my savings for those breakthrough pills. Now it’s all gone.”

“It’s too hard. Too hard.”

“Earning Primordial Crystals is hard. Living is hard. Cultivating is hard.” The old man’s emotions were complicated.

But after drinking two more mouthfuls of wine, he laughed again. “Even though it’s hard, at least in Rainlan City there’s still hope for cultivation.”

“Yes. At least there’s hope.” Luo Feng nodded. Those who came to Rainlan City all did so to go further on the path of cultivation.

“Thank you for the fine wine, brother.” The old man smiled and departed.

The road of cultivation still had to continue.

Luo Feng watched him leave. “This is the normal life of the lower levels in Rainlan City.”

When Emperor Fu and Emperor Ming had first arrived in Rainlan City, they had lived exactly like this. Even finding the most ordinary job had been extremely difficult.

Cultivators at this level formed the overwhelming majority of Rainlan City—hundreds of millions of them.

These cultivators lacked the strength to hunt Low-Rank Primordial Lifeforms. They could only serve stronger beings in order to earn a little cultivation resource. Even then, they might still be robbed, while also needing to pay residence fees and Cave Dwelling rent.

“Hm?”

After leaving for a moment, the old man suddenly froze as he looked at the wine jar in his hand.

Inside the jar was a sealed space containing a block of Primordial Crystal.

One such block was worth ten thousand Primordial Crystals.

“Ten thousand Primordial Crystals?” The old man hurriedly turned around. But Luo Feng was already gone from the lakeside. Only then did he realize that the man he had just met was definitely no ordinary figure.

“Thank you, Senior.” The old man silently expressed his gratitude. Not daring to attract attention, he immediately hurried toward his Cave Dwelling. He did not dare carry so many Primordial Crystals around.

…

Luo Feng wandered through Rainlan City.

Everywhere in the city one could see lower-level cultivators. Most of them had no stable long-term work.

For many factions, maintaining permanent employees was a heavy burden. Even if a worker earned only twenty Primordial Crystals per era, what about ten thousand eras? A million eras? Over time the expense would become terrifying.

Therefore most factions employed only a small number of permanent members. The majority were temporary workers—recruited when needed and dismissed when idle.

“Even so, lower-level cultivators are the easiest targets for theft.” As Luo Feng walked, he encountered several thefts. “Because they’re poor, weak, and cannot afford the Secret Treasure ‘Illusory Realm Labyrinth.’”

“Whoosh.”

A flying boat passed through the sky in the distance.

Luo Feng sensed five cultivators inside. Judging by their aura, they were all Early-Stage God Emperor Seekers. They had likely just returned from hunting.

“In Rainlan City, even after leaving the lowest level and becoming somewhat stronger—reaching the Early-Stage God Emperor Seeker level—most still risk their lives hunting.”

“Even Mid-Stage God Emperor Seekers are mostly hunters. Only a few can occupy important positions within major powers.”

Luo Feng thought of Emperor Qing. As a Mid-Stage God Emperor Seeker, Emperor Qing had only obtained a good position in the Yun Dan Tower because of Luo Feng’s connection. Otherwise, with so many powerhouses in the city, why would Yun Dan Tower Master Changqing choose him?

Across the entire Rainlan City, only a small minority lived comfortably. Over ninety-nine percent lived with hardship.

“Even so, everyone still comes.”

“All for the path of cultivation.”

Luo Feng arrived outside the Cave Dwelling of one of the three major raiding factions—the Insect Nest.

Even from afar, he could see the towering spherical lifeform. Countless frenzied faces emerged across its surface. Numerous holes opened across the sphere, with cultivators constantly entering and leaving.

“Master of the Insect Nest.” Luo Feng looked calmly.

Although he had not rushed to break through to the Late-Stage of the Path of Life and Death…

Even at the Mid-Stage, his Path of Life had reached the Late-Stage God Emperor level, and the Path of Destruction had also reached the Late-Stage God Emperor level. Combined with his long research into Primordial Bloodlines, Luo Feng’s accumulation was terrifying. He had already created many secret techniques.

Luo Feng did not even care much about the Three Hall Masters anymore—naturally he cared even less about the Master of the Insect Nest.

“The Infinite Primordial Space contains countless Source Worlds and even more billions of worlds.” Luo Feng thought. “Cultivators differ from world to world. Even without the Master of the Insect Nest, the Master of the Trick Workshop, or the master of the Ten Thousand Shadows Loft… there would still be many cultivators who steal and plunder.”

For resources, they would stop at nothing.

In the Thirty-Five Cities of the Jiugang Holy Realm, every city was the same.

Even if Luo Feng became the City Lord and forcibly dissolved factions like the Insect Nest, theft and plunder would never completely disappear.

…

“Luo Feng came outside my Cave Dwelling and is staring at me?”

This enormous Insect Nest was the body of the Master of the Insect Nest.

Standing outside the entrance and staring at it, Luo Feng was naturally noticed.

“I haven’t obtained a suitable Mental Secret Treasure yet.” The Master of the Insect Nest thought. “For now I must endure. Once I acquire one, I will make Luo Feng understand the price of provoking me.”

Suddenly, a mental transmission echoed within the Insect Nest—

“Master of the Insect Nest, I’m standing outside your Cave Dwelling looking at that enormous body of yours. Are you pretending not to see me?” Luo Feng’s voice arrived.

“Luo Feng—” The Master of the Insect Nest stared at him in anger and replied mentally. “You’ve gone too far.”

“When you came to the Yun Dan Tower, you attacked me directly. Now I merely stand outside your Cave Dwelling and say a few words, and that’s too far?” Luo Feng replied with a mental laugh.

The Master of the Insect Nest fell silent.

“Your courage is far smaller than the rumors suggested.” Seeing that the other side remained silent and did not even retort, Luo Feng said nothing more and turned to leave.

The Master of the Insect Nest endured it.

“If he dares come to provoke me, he must have some backing.” The Master of the Insect Nest felt a vague intuition—an instinct formed over endless years of survival.

…

While Luo Feng wandered around Rainlan City,

inside a very ordinary Cave Dwelling in the Outer City,

two weak cultivators gathered.

“Make preparations. The King will soon enter Rainlan City.” One thin cultivator transmitted mentally.

“The King is finally coming?” The other elderly cultivator said excitedly. “I’ll mobilize my subordinates immediately and have everyone prepare.”

“The King’s arrival is known only to the leaders.” The thin cultivator warned. “Anyone below the leader level must remain unaware.”

“Don’t worry. My subordinates all believe this is just another infiltration assassination mission. Such operations have happened before.” The elderly cultivator replied. “The true plan—only I know.”

The thin cultivator nodded.

“Make preparations and wait patiently. Once the King enters Rainlan City, he will be able to communicate mentally with all of us leaders.”

The elderly cultivator looked forward to it eagerly.

“We’ve waited too long. When we tear Rainlan City apart this time… the hundreds of millions of cultivators in Rainlan City—we will feast on them freely. Once we devour enough cultivators, we may regain our freedom.”

In the outside world, even killing a single cultivator was extremely difficult.

But if Rainlan City were breached, hundreds of millions of cultivators would become food before their eyes.

“Be patient. That day is coming soon.” The thin cultivator smiled faintly.