Swallowed Star: Lord of the Wolf

Mo Yan paused for a moment, his powerful aura pressing down, ensuring that all three of them were listening intently.

"Firstly, after leaving this territory, as eternal true gods who have emerged from our own Eastern Extreme Domain, every word and action of yours will be connected to the Eastern Extreme Domain! You must never divulge any sensitive information about the Eastern Extreme Domain to outsiders! This includes, but is not limited to: the distribution of various tribal forces, the layout of the core area's formations, the coordinates of resource-rich areas, and so on! Violators will be..." A cold glint flashed in Mo Yan's eyes, and his tone was chilling, "considered as treason! To the ends of the earth, His Majesty the God-King's 'Purifying Envoy' will surely come to annihilate your souls and destroy your divine bodies!"

Even the air seemed to freeze.

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines. They had never even heard of this name before, but for Mo Yan to be so certain, he must definitely have the ability to kill them.

Mo Yan's voice continued, like the pounding of a cold iron hammer: "Secondly, whatever you encounter while you are out there, you must never assist any outside forces or do anything that harms the fundamental interests of our Eastern Extremity Region. Whether it's participating in operations against our region or providing crucial assistance, once verified..." He coldly uttered four words, carrying a murderous aura as heavy as mountains of corpses and seas of blood, "...severely punished without mercy!"

"Thirdly," Mo Yan's gaze finally settled on Xu Yang, his intuition telling him that this was the core figure, "Kunxi City bestowed upon you the talismans, trusting your judgment and stance as Eternal True Gods. I hope you cherish this trust and do not jeopardize yourselves! The Eastern Extreme Region will forever be your root and your last line of defense! I hope you... will act accordingly!"

The three ironclad rules, like three cold shackles, pressed down heavily.

The devastating consequences represented by the "Dust Purifier" and "Severe Punishment Without Mercy" sent a chill down the spines of everyone present. This was no empty threat, but an ironclad rule forged over countless years by the Eastern Extremity Region with the bones of countless traitors and spies.

The quiet room was deathly silent, with only the heavy, mountain-like pressure emanating from Mo Yan.

Xu Yang remained seated cross-legged, his long, slender fingers gently caressing the black feather talisman, sensing the strange laws and the will of the Kunpeng contained within.

“We have taken General Mo Yan’s warning to heart.” Xu Yang’s voice was calm and composed, neither humble nor arrogant. “The Eastern Extremity Region is our homeland, and we naturally understand this. When acting abroad, we will never do anything that would harm our roots or cut off our own escape route. As for those so-called 'sensitive intelligence'…”

"We are merely going out for a stroll and to seek our own path. We are not spies, nor do we have any interest in spreading the news of our homeland. General, you can rest assured."

Xu Yang spoke calmly and unhurriedly.

Mo Yan stared intently into Xu Yang's eyes, and after a moment, his fierce aura slowly subsided.

"Remember what you said," he said in a deep voice, then turned and strode away with two guards, the clanging sound of their armor fading into the distance.

The heavy pressure in the quiet room dissipated.

“Master…” Jiu Wuye breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's alright." Xu Yang stood up, casually put away the talisman, and turned his gaze towards the huge and cold city gate outside the window. "Iron rules are dead, but people are alive. As long as you have enough strength, the rules... are just for show."

He patted Guji's head: "Let's go, it's time to leave the city."

"Yay! Finally, we can go eat some delicious food outside!" Guji cheered, instantly throwing the tense atmosphere from the previous moment to the winds.

Although the food in the city tastes very good, it is all made from low-grade ingredients. No restaurant is luxurious enough to use Eternal-level alien beasts to make dishes and sell them... Even if they could obtain them, they would be quickly consumed by the upper class.

It was nowhere near as enjoyable as Xu Yang taking him out in the wild to kill and eat the animals on the spot.

Stepping out, Xu Yang showed no concern for the "Dust Cleansing Envoy" or the so-called iron law, only a profound calm and the ease of successfully leaving the Eastern Extreme Region.

With the talisman in hand, they were naturally not harassed, and the three of them swaggered out of the city in a line.

The flying boat smoothly departed from the heavy and oppressive city gate area of ​​Kunxi City and passed through the invisible boundary barrier.

Om-!
As if passing through a viscous curtain of water, an invisible sense of constraint suddenly vanished.

The scenery outside the flying boat seemed to have not changed much; it was still a vast land filled with the energy of heaven and earth. However, Xu Yang clearly sensed that the oppressive and murderous atmosphere of the array belonging to the Eastern Region, which had been omnipresent above Kunxi City, had receded like a tide.

"call--"

Xu Yang stood at the bow of the ship and let out a long sigh of relief.

Although he didn't show it on his face, he was not entirely unaffected by the invisible pressure of being in the core area of ​​the Eastern Extreme Region, after all, Kunxi City had a true Chaos Realm expert in charge!
Now that I'm free, I feel like the world has suddenly become much wider, and even breathing seems much easier.

He glanced back.

Behind them, the Kunxi City, which resembled a colossal chaotic beast, rapidly shrank in their field of vision, along with the long, winding border line faintly inscribed with countless ancient runes in the void, gradually disappearing into the vast mist.

left.

They officially left the colossal Eastern Pole Region.

Guji lay on the ship's side, looking around curiously, sniffing the different chaotic scents in the air, and excitedly asked, "Master, Master, where are we going to eat something delicious now?"

His thoughts were always simple and straightforward. It wasn't that he was stupid; it was just that when he was with Xu Yang, he only needed to follow Xu Yang's orders and didn't have to use his brain. He was happy with that.

Jiu Wuye appeared much more cautious. He stood half a step behind Xu Yang, respectfully and silently.

Xu Yang's gaze swept across the chaotic void before him, which seemed no different from the outer regions of the Eastern Extremity, but his expression turned serious.

"The Origin Continent... is vast and boundless." Xu Yang spoke slowly, his voice carrying an unprecedented solemnity. "Although the Eastern Extreme Region is strong, it is only one of the three first-rate powers. Leaving its territory is like entering a more vast, but also more unfamiliar and unknown ocean."

He looked at Jiu Wuye and Guji: "Right now, we don't even know which direction the Fulong Kingdom is in."

This is reality.

The only clue left by the mountain dweller is "Fulong Kingdom, Dragon Ridge City, Yanlong Mansion, Steward Yanbo".

The Origin Continent is too vast, with kingdoms, sects, and forces scattered like stars in the sky. Without a precise map to guide you, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"The most urgent task is to find a large city and go to the Flamewind Guild Hall or Thunder Guild Hall to buy a detailed map covering the entire Origin Continent region, clearly marking the territories of various forces and important city nodes," Xu Yang said.

Ancient Parliament House!

This was one of his most important goals for this trip, not only to fulfill the instructions of the Mountain Guest and convert the refining materials in the World Ring into cash, but also to take advantage of his resources and information network that spanned the continent.

The wealth of fifty billion cosmic sands cannot be lost in the slightest. "Yes, Master is wise!" Jiu Wuye bowed and replied.

Having determined its target, the flying boat, under Xu Yang's control, chose a direction away from Kunxi City and the border of the Eastern Extreme Region, accelerating to its maximum speed and transforming into a streak of light tearing through the void as it sped towards the unknown territory.

The airship weaved through the chaotic air currents.

In the outside world, one could occasionally sense the undisguised aura of a powerful and eternal true god sweeping past. One day, a terrifying pressure at the level of a Chaos Ruler swept across the heavens like an abyss, causing Jiu Wuye's face to turn deathly pale, and even Guji tucked its tail between its legs.

Xu Yang also quickly stopped the flying boat, fearing that it would attract the attention of the Chaos Ruler.

After leaving the interior of the Eastern Extreme Region, what we witnessed along the way was even more chaotic. There was no unified order, only naked survival of the fittest and the division of spheres of influence.

Time slips away as we rush on our journeys.

Several months later, the chaotic air currents ahead of the airship gradually thinned, and a vast and boundless city appeared on the horizon.

Beneath the dark sky lies a vast expanse of brownish-yellow land divided into enormous grids, with the outline of a city, resembling a crouching behemoth, looming atop the central node of the grid.

"found it!"

A glint flashed in Xu Yang's eyes. After flying for so long, they had finally arrived at the stronghold of the civilization.

……

The east gate of Xiju City is majestic and wide, large enough to accommodate a massive number of creatures entering and exiting at the same time.

Xu Yang's flying boat gradually reduced its speed and merged into the queue entering the city.

"It's not just us, there are so many natives too!" Guji shouted as the airship flew by, looking down at the flow of people below.

His voice drew many glances from the city gate. Some cultivators, whose clothing bore the distinctive features of the Eastern Extreme Region, showed a hint of familiarity and understanding, clearly recognizing their "fellow townsman." However, the majority of the local creatures from Xiju City, dressed in a more uniform style and bearing the obvious imprint of their "nation's" civilization, mostly displayed strange expressions. Deep within their eyes, there was a mixture of curiosity, scrutiny, and even... a subtle sense of superiority, as if they were looking at a group of "country bumpkins coming to the city."

After all, in the eyes of many nations and factions, the Eastern Extreme Region, though powerful and mysterious, also carries the label of primitiveness and barbarity.

However, neither the people from the Eastern Extremity Region, who were also natives, nor the local residents of Xiju City dared to approach or provoke Xu Yang and his companions' flying boat.

The three undisguised auras of eternal true gods were like three moving mountains. In a place like Xiju City, they were already top-tier forces capable of crushing the vast majority of families and walking sideways!

Even the elite True God Guards, clad in standard armor and exuding a powerful aura, who stood guard at the city gates, only cast respectful glances from afar, not daring to approach for inspection—this was the privilege that strength brought.

As Xu Yang scanned the area with his mind, he heard the conversations of countless living beings. In a short moment, he had already formed a judgment about this city.

While this place is indeed bustling with activity and its city is quite large, compared to Kunxi City, a terrifying border town permeated with the will of a god-king, with the true form of the Chaos Ruler presiding over it and the Eternal True God personally patrolling it, it is simply like an adobe village next to a fine iron castle.

"Master, the faction to which this city belongs..." Jiu Wuye also quietly investigated.

The airship entered the city smoothly without any obstruction.

Xu Yang landed in a secluded spot, and the three of them walked along the bustling street.

With his extensive experience and some publicly available information, Jiu Wuye quickly ascertained the general background of the place and reported to Xu Yang in a low voice:
"Master, we've found out. This Xiju City belongs to the 'Duanmu Kingdom,' and its ruler is a god-king named 'Duanmu Ya.'"

"Duanmu God King?" Xu Yang was unfamiliar with this name, but he was also surprised that Jiu Wuye could find so much information in such a short time.

“Yes, this God-King Duanmu is very ancient.” Jiu Wuye nodded, seemingly noticing Xu Yang’s confusion, and respectfully explained, “This news has become common knowledge in Xiju City, and it doesn’t take much effort to find out. It is said that his time of attaining enlightenment may even be longer than that of some of the oldest God-Kings in the Eastern Extreme Region. Long before the Great Migration, God-King Duanmu had already established his foundation here and founded the ‘Duanmu Kingdom’.”

His tone was tinged with complexity: "However... fate is cruel. Although the God King Duanmu is ancient, it is said that his cultivation level has always remained at... the peak of the first level of God King, and he has never been able to break through. Among the God Kings of the Origin Continent, this is considered to be one of the weaker ones."

"The first level of the God King realm?" Xu Yang's eyes flickered slightly. The difference between each level of the God King realm was like an insurmountable chasm. In the top-level structure of the Origin Continent, the first level was indeed considered to be at the bottom.

“It was precisely because of insufficient strength,” Jiu Wuye continued, lowering his voice even further, “that massive storm that swept across the entire Origin Continent and divided the territories—the upheaval that drove countless native forces to the peripheral regions like the Eastern Extreme Domain—that God-King Duanmu simply didn’t have enough say. He could only watch helplessly as vast swathes of ‘unclaimed land’ adjacent to his own were assigned to our Eastern Extreme Domain!”

Jiu Wuye's words were tinged with schadenfreude: "From now on, the Duanmu Kingdom will be like a small beast sleeping next to the bed of this ancient ferocious beast in our Eastern Region. If we sneeze, the Duanmu Kingdom will tremble. Once a conflict breaks out between the two sides, the kingdom of the Duanmu God King could very well be uprooted and reduced to dust in an instant, and even he himself might not be able to escape!"

Xu Yang nodded slightly, which was consistent with his previous perception.

The pressure of a third-rate country bordering a first-rate hegemon is enough to keep any ruler awake at night.

“Therefore,” Jiu Wuye concluded, “the God-King Duanmu travels far and wide, rarely returning to Duanmu Kingdom to oversee things. On one hand, he may be seeking opportunities for breakthroughs, and on the other hand… he probably also has the idea of ​​‘not putting all his eggs in one basket.’ If a great calamity were to befall him, being outside would offer a better chance of survival than being trapped in a remote place.”

He looked around at the scene: "As for Xiju City, as the first-line border city facing Kunxi City... its strategic location is certainly important, but it also comes with great risks. No Chaos Overlord is willing to station his avatar or true body in such a place where he could become 'cannon fodder' at the forefront of the God-King level battlefield for a long time. Therefore, the defense and management of this city are mainly entrusted to some Eternal True God families that are affiliated with the Duanmu Kingdom. The strongest in the city should be the ancestors of a few top Eternal True God families."

Xu Yang understood.

No wonder this city, though bustling, felt far inferior to Kunxi City in terms of its foundation and defensive strength. Without a Chaos Realm expert to oversee it, relying solely on an Eternal True God, it was indeed as fragile as paper in the face of a true storm.

"Heh, it's a delicate position." Xu Yang chuckled lightly, neither commenting nor denying Duanmu God King's predicament.

The law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, has remained unchanged since ancient times.

The Duanmu Kingdom, established by the God King Duanmu, has become a laughing stock, with even the people of the cities under his command talking about him in the streets.

"Since this is a national power, the Yanfeng Guild must have a branch here. Let's go to the Yanfeng Guild branch."

"Yes, Master!"

The three followed the street and soon arrived at a massive complex of buildings that exuded the most imposing aura, boasted the most magnificent architectural style, and displayed the iconic emblem. (End of Chapter)