Swallowed Star: Lord of the Wolf

The capital of the ancient Thunder Kingdom, the Holy City.

This ancient city, personally overseen by the Thunder Ancestor and having endured countless cycles of reincarnation, now resembles an ancient thunder beast awakening from its slumber, unleashing unprecedented clamor and oppressive power.

The towering purple city walls soared into the chaotic void, their surface flowing with liquid lightning paste. Countless enormous purple lightning bolts moved like living things, radiating a boundless power that even made the ruler of chaos tremble.

The city gates were wide open, emitting streams of light from all directions of the Origin Continent, each stream representing a powerful cultivator! In this holy city, ordinary people neither have the qualifications nor the ability to live here.

Above the holy city, the thick thunderclouds that had shrouded it year-round were now churning and roaring, as if responding to the immense energy gathering below.

The air was filled with dense lightning particles, mixed with various complex and powerful primal auras, including the ancient starlight, the chilling cold of ice, the tyranny of bloodlust, the fury of flames, and the unpredictability of space... all kinds of auras, varying in strength, like hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea, all converging here.

This colossal object, bathed in eternal lightning, naturally houses the palaces of the nine emperors and the caves of numerous powerful god-kings in its core area, exuding an aura of majesty and deathly stillness that even the ruler of chaos finds suffocating.

However, like the veins and extremities of a giant beast, the vast outer area of ​​the Holy City is a gathering place for idle powerful individuals and even powerful individuals from other forces who come from all over the Origin Continent to travel, live, and do business in the Holy City. At this moment, these areas are boiling like a pot of boiling oil because of the news of the 'Heart of Thunder Source'.

The dense thunder particles in the air seemed to act as a catalyst, stirring up all sorts of noise, discussions, transactions, and conspiracies into a fervent atmosphere.

……

Thunder Roar Tavern.

The place was filled with rough laughter and the strong smell of alcohol. The glasses were made of primitive metal, rough but with a unique charm, and the liquor was mixed with pungent thiophanates.

A group of 'Eternal True Gods', their bodies radiating bloodlust and their faces fierce and ferocious, sat around a table, setting up a protective barrier and spitting as they spoke.

"Damn it, what's with this Thunder Source Heart scheme?! I've been secretly mining for three eras in the 'Black Wind Chaos State,' and I just got back to the Holy City to rest when I stumbled upon this monstrous event!" A one-eyed burly man gulped down a mouthful of "Thunderfire Brew," the spicy liquid making him grimace, but his eyes gleamed with greed. "I see all six princes are recruiting. If we can sneak in as guest advisors and go into the Thunder Punishment Abyss, even if we don't get the Thunder Source Heart, a little bit of it will be enough for us brothers to live a carefree life forever!"

"Pah, one-eyed dragon, you wish!" A lean man next to him sneered, picking his teeth. "You think being a guest advisor to His Highness the Prince is so easy? Didn't you see what happened at 'Thunder Valley'? Prince Lei Hao set up a 'Thousand Thunder Purgatory'. I heard that five or six experts went in last time, and they all crawled out covered in dust, some even seriously injured! With your physique, you could only last half a day at most!"

"What's there to be afraid of!" The one-eyed man slammed his hand on the table, spilling wine everywhere. "Fortune favors the bold! Although His Highness Lei Hao's test is ruthless, he's also incredibly generous! I heard that anyone who passes his test will be immediately rewarded with the royal family's exclusive 'Purple Thunder Body Tempering Pill,' which is extremely beneficial to the divine body! I'll give it my all; maybe my strength can reach a new level!"

The one-eyed dragon was only at the top level of the Chaos Realm, but he cultivated the Great Dao of Space Origin, so he was quite confident in his own abilities.

“If you ask me, Prince Lei Yue’s side is more reliable.” An old man with a slightly calmer aura chimed in from the left, a small electric snake wrapped around his arm. “The ‘Suppressing Mountain Platform’ relies on withstanding the pressure of ‘Suppressing Mountain Divine Peak’. Although it is dangerous, as long as the divine body is strong enough and the foundation is solid, there is still a chance to succeed. It is said that there are already several candidates.”

"Tsk tsk, several candidates? But I heard that a prince can only recruit two guest retainers to compete for the Heart of Thunder Source, right? In the end, we'll still have to fight each other, won't we? No difference, no difference..."

"Who cares? Whether it's this prince or that prince, we have to choose one to try. We're already in the Holy City, which gives us a geographical advantage. There's no reason for us to just watch those outsiders make such a big splash."

……

Jilei Tea Station.

This is a rather elegant place for discussions, relatively quiet. The teacups are filled with "Thunder Core Tea," which grows by absorbing the essence of thunder, and has a delicate fragrance with a hint of tingling.

In a private booth by the window, two powerful beings of chaos were conversing in hushed tones.

They reduced most of their oppressive aura, set up restrictions, and occasionally looked down at the street through the ninth-floor window.

“Old Ghost Xinghai went to Lei Xuan’s ‘Ten Thousand Machines Thunder Tower’.” The old man in the floral robe took a sip of tea, his fingertips unconsciously tracing patterns on the table. “He is quite clever. Relying on his star divination technique, he chose to challenge the formation. I originally wanted to go and try it too, but then I thought that this selection would last for nearly 100 epochs, so it probably wouldn’t be that simple.”

Opposite him, a woman shrouded in a light mist chuckled: "How many years has Old Ghost Xinghai been stuck at his peak? It's normal for him to be anxious. It's rare to encounter such an opportunity released by the Thunder Ancient Kingdom, so naturally he has to take a gamble. However, as far as I know, Princess Xuan's 'Myriad Machine Thunder Tower' is itself a powerful God-King weapon. If Old Ghost tries to take a shortcut, he'll probably kick a hornet's nest."

"Where do you want to go?" The old man tapped the table.

The woman smiled and shook her head. "It's a secret. There are limited spots available. We're good friends, but we're also competitors. I won't tell you until I actually go."

The old man smiled, and then the two exchanged a glance, understanding each other without saying a word.

These veteran rulers crave opportunities and are adept at assessing situations. They won't be easily used as pawns, but they also don't mind seeking potential benefits for themselves amidst the chaos.

Even friends can betray you at any time when faced with such an immense opportunity offered by the Thunder Royal Family.

……

The six huge plazas on the outskirts of the holy city, which used to be extremely bustling, have now been cleared out by the city guards and used specifically to set up formations for the six princes and select talents.

Each plaza is equipped with a powerful spatial array, forming its own world. At this moment, these six areas have become the most exciting and eye-catching focus in the entire holy city.

The first district belongs to Prince Lei Hao.

This plaza has been transformed into a vast battlefield of lightning. Countless thick purple lightning pillars are guided by the array and fall from the sky, bombarding the ground and forming a violent lightning prison. The ground is covered with pits and cracks, and the air is filled with destructive lightning energy.

The selection process was also very simple and brutal: all applicants were sent directly into this "Thousand Thunder Purgatory"!
They endured for three days and three nights under the relentless and violent bombardment of lightning!

At the same time, several Chaos Overlord puppets, known for their ferocious attacks, which Prince Lei Hao specially requested from the royal family, would randomly attack. These puppets were not very strong, only ordinary Chaos Realm strength, but they could not withstand the entanglement caused by their immortal puppet bodies.

"Hahaha, come in if you dare! Let this prince see how tough you are. If you can withstand it, you'll be rewarded handsomely!" Prince Lei Hao himself sat cross-legged on a towering thunder tower at the edge of the battlefield. He was shirtless, revealing muscles as hard as refined iron. Purple thunder patterns were faintly visible under his skin. His wild laughter was like rolling thunder, drowning out the roar of the battlefield.

He revered absolute power and believed that only warriors who could withstand the most ferocious attacks and even kill their opponents were qualified to follow him into the Thunder Punishment Abyss!
At this moment, the battlefield was in complete disarray.

A top-tier Chaos Realm applicant was struggling, barely holding on under the onslaught of lightning pillars and puppets, on the verge of collapse. A flicker of disappointment crossed Prince Lei Hao's eyes. This was a Chaos Ruler from the Asteroid Belt, whose true form was a "Meteor Giant." He had been holding out for him thanks to his massive divine body and defensive techniques, but alas…

"If only you had an infinite divine body, but unfortunately you're just an ordinary divine body..." Lei Hao watched as the meteor giant was blasted by lightning, coughing up blood and being thrown backward.

……

The second area belongs to Prince Lei Xuan, and it is completely different from Lei Hao's battlefield. Prince Lei Xuan's selection area is like a huge, intricate tower-shaped maze.

Countless lightning runes, shimmering with different luster, intertwined in the air and on the ground, forming an incredibly complex and ever-changing three-dimensional maze.

The labyrinth is filled with illusions, traps, energy barriers, and lightning guardians formed by arrays.

All participants enter the maze simultaneously and must decipher the core array within a specified time.

Prince Lei Xuan himself did not appear, but the entire maze was under his will, constantly observing it.

At the edge of the plaza, a huge light screen floated, displaying the real-time location and progress of all participants in the maze. At this moment, most of the light spots on the screen were moving slowly in the outer area, and some were even stationary.

One of the Chaos Rulers, a "Wanderer" who cultivated the origin of space and whose figure was elusive, stood out. His figure flickered in the maze, quickly deciphering each node.

But the most eye-catching is the Star Remains Elder!

He didn't rush forward, but instead stood at the edge of the maze, his ancient astrolabe floating before him. Starlight danced on the astrolabe, constantly deducing the maze's workings; he was attempting to find the optimal path directly through this deduction!
This "cheating" method caused the array set up by Lei Xuan to flash with light, as if it were resisting it.

……

At the heart of the third region stands a towering, dark peak that exudes an ancient and profound aura!
The surface of the mountain is covered with densely packed runes.

The test is simple: stand beneath the divine peak and endure the progressively increasing pressure emanating from it.

As of now, all we know is that someone withstood the ninth level of the domain; no one knows how many domains this Divine Peak truly possesses!
With each advancement in the realm, the pressure increases exponentially, simultaneously triggering the "Earthly Magnetic Evil" and "Desolate Thunderous Aura" within the Divine Peak to erode the foundation of the divine body.

Those who persevere to the eighth level of pressure are considered qualified.

Of course, the longer you persist and the better you perform, the more attention you will receive.

Prince Lei Yue sat atop the divine peak, like a silent mountain, his gaze steadily fixed on the scene below. Behind him stood two puppets, like two iron towers, their auras heavy and imposing.

At this moment, the selection process is proceeding in an orderly manner.

……

The fourth, fifth, and sixth districts are also conducting selections, and one after another, Chaos Overlords who rarely appear in the past are now appearing as if they were free!
In these four eras, the inhabitants of the Holy City have seen more Chaos Rulers than they had heard of in the previous tens of thousands of eras.

This shows just how influential Lei Yuanzhixin is this time!

……

In the darkest corner of the capital, in an inconspicuous tavern's secret room.

The Blood Prison Great Sage concealed all his aura, appearing like an ordinary eternal true god.

Opposite him sat two figures who also deliberately concealed their auras. One was gaunt with sunken eyes, surrounded by faint, mournful wails of vengeful spirits; he was the "Venerable of Ten Thousand Souls."

The other person was deathly pale, with dark green poisonous mist swirling around his fingertips, exuding a chilling aura; he was known as the "Bone-Eating Poison Lord".

The light in the sealed room was dim and distorted, isolating it from all the noise of the outside world. The air was filled with a cold, vengeful atmosphere and a faint, sweet, and poisonous smell.

"...That mad dog Qi Yun caused a huge uproar over Lei Guang's side, forcibly passing the test by devouring evil energy, and is temporarily registered under Lei Guang's name." The Blood Prison Great Sage's voice was deep, his finger dipped in crimson wine, slowly drawing a winding line on the rough stone table, like the trajectory of some kind of hunt. "Over at Lei Yue, there seems to be someone named Yan, I've never seen him before, he's probably some guy who changed his appearance, his performance is very eye-catching, he withstood the pressure of the ninth level of the Mountain-Suppressing Divine Peak."

The green soul flames in the eye sockets of the Venerable of Ten Thousand Souls flickered eerily, emitting a hoarse, grinding sound: "The ninth level? Hmph, the Mountain-Suppressing Divine Peak under Lei Yue's command was made in imitation of the famous weapon of the 'Mountain-Suppressing God King.' Although it is far inferior to the power of the original, the pressure of the ninth level, combined with the Earth Element Magnetic Fiend and the Desolate Thunder Qi, would make even a peak Chaos Ruler not necessarily able to escape unscathed..."

"Hiss..." The Bone-Corroding Poison Lord gasped, the dark green poison mist at his fingertips becoming somewhat disordered. "If such a divine body were to be devoured, it would be a great tonic!"

"A great tonic? Hmph, you'd have to be alive to absorb it!" Venerable Ten Thousand Souls sneered. "Blood Prison, you didn't call us here just to say this, did you? Get to the point! The three of us have all become 'discarded pawns' now!"

The atmosphere instantly became even colder.

The face of the Bone-Corroding Poison Lord turned even paler.

Yes, all three of them were not selected.

Blood Prison Great Sage's killing style was too brutal. In Prince Lei Hao's "Thousand Thunder Purgatory", he tried to show his strength by attacking the puppets frantically, which triggered a chain reaction in the puppet array. The puppets combined with Thousand Thunder Purgatory directly kicked him out of the game.

Of course, the main reason is that this lightning is too much of a counter to his original Dao. The extremely strong and yang lightning is drawn from the city's protective array, which was personally set up by the Thunder Ancestor! Even diluted ten thousand times, it still makes him feel uncomfortable all over!
Meanwhile, Venerable Wanhun attempted to use his vengeful spirits to erode the core array eye of Lei Xuan's "Ten Thousand Machines Thunder Tower," but was instead devoured by the righteous thunder intent contained within the tower, damaging his will and forcing him to retreat in a sorry state.

The Poison Lord of Corrosive Bones fared even worse. In the "Primordial Thunder Pool" of Thunder Prison, his poisonous origin clashed violently with several lightning elements of completely opposite attributes, triggering a massive explosion that nearly poisoned him as well, making him the laughingstock of the entire scene. (End of Chapter)