Swallowed Star: Lord of the Wolf

The Blood Shadow Elder listened quietly, as steady as a rock, rapidly analyzing, sorting out, and integrating the seemingly chaotic information within his God-King level will.

As the competition for spots in the Thunder Punishment Abyss intensifies, more and more Chaos Sovereigns are venturing into the trials set by the six princes. Moreover, since there is no rule that they can only attempt it once, many unwilling Chaos Sovereigns try again after recovering from their injuries.

Now that another prince has been assassinated, it proves that the power struggle among the six princes is not peaceful. Moreover, ordinary Chaos Rulers do not have such courage. Once caught, they would be completely annihilated in no time.

But in the end, those three assassins escaped unscathed... No one would believe them if they didn't have powerful backers!

The intervention of external forces proves that a powerful outsider wants to challenge the local snake and provoke the tiger.

Unpredictable and turbulent...

In any case, the Holy City is now a gathering place for powerful individuals, with the number of Chaos Overlords far exceeding expectations, making the competition extremely fierce.

The Blood Shadow Elder picked up the dark red "Blood Thunder Spring Brew" and took another sip. The raging lightning and scorching blood intertwined within his body, yet they could not shake him in the slightest.

Deep within his murky eyes, a crimson light flickered, like an undercurrent surging beneath a calm sea of ​​blood.

"The Heart of Thunder Source..." the Blood Shadow Elder murmured to himself, "It seems... to be more interesting than I expected."

He downed the wine in his glass in one gulp, feeling the unique flavor flow through his body, then gently put down the glass and tossed in dozens of pieces of cosmic sand.

He stood up and, like an ordinary drinker, silently blended into the bustling crowd outside the Thunderclap Tavern, a crowd filled with tension and anticipation, and slowly walked towards the depths of the holy city.

The wind in the holy city seemed to have picked up.

A faint rumble of thunder rolled deep into the clouds, as if foreshadowing an impending storm.

……

In Thunder Holy City, there is naturally the Thunder Merchant Guild.

The Blood-Hidden Elder walked with ease, merging into the surging crowds of the Holy City. The purple-gold lightning streets flowed beneath his feet, flanked by magnificent buildings that exuded a lightning aura that was sometimes sharp, sometimes majestic, and sometimes luxurious.

His goal was clear—the headquarters of the Thunder Chamber of Commerce.

In this treacherous place where powerful figures gather, the most timely and accurate intelligence is the intangible wealth and power.

After passing through several bustling main streets, the view suddenly opened up ahead.

A complex of buildings, several times more magnificent and expansive than ordinary structures, stands in the heart of the holy city: nine towering giant towers!

These nine giant towers are forged entirely from a strange, deep purple crystal that seems to contain solidified ancient thunder. The towers are entwined with thick, gold and silver lightning serpent totems that move slowly like living creatures.

The base of the tower is as massive as a mountain, gradually narrowing upwards, with its spire piercing the depths of the flowing thunderclouds atop the holy city's dome, resembling nine colossal pillars of thunder supporting the heavens and earth.

The most impressive part is the central main tower.

Its top is not an ordinary spire or pearl, but rather a huge, unimaginably large abacus phantom made of pure golden lightning.

Each abacus bead was as large as a star, moving slowly on its own. Each movement caused subtle tremors in the surrounding void, exuding an aura of controlling all realms and governing the flow of all things.

These are the symbols of the Thunder Merchant Guild headquarters—the Nine Heavens Thunder Crystal Pagoda and the Qiankun Thunder Abacus, the latter being a top-tier treasure renowned throughout the Origin Continent!
Between the nine giant towers, countless flowing light corridors constructed from pure lightning power crisscross, and countless figures shuttle at high speed through them in a busy yet orderly manner.

The platform below the tower was bustling with activity, with all sorts of magnificent carriages, exotic beasts, and powerful cultivators constantly entering and exiting the various entrances of the merchant guild.

A glimmer of light flashed in the old man's cloudy eyes.

The headquarters of this chamber of commerce is magnificent and imposing, with a profound foundation, far surpassing the Thunder Chamber of Commerce in Thunder City. The intricate network of forces behind it is deeply entrenched and unfathomable.

He showed no arrogance because of his cultivation level, and remained just like an ordinary rogue cultivator, following the flow of people into the central tower through the magnificent main entrance.

The tower's interior is extremely spacious, with a high dome that faintly reveals a scroll of flowing thunderclouds.

The floor was smooth, mirror-like black lightning-patterned stone, reflecting the soft yet omnipresent lightning above. The spacious hall was divided into numerous areas: material acquisition, magic weapon consignment, intelligence consultation, cultivation techniques and secret arts, employment commissions... Each area was packed with people, and the attendants were at least at the peak of the Void True God realm, with impeccable manners and extremely high efficiency.

The Blood Shadow Elder walked straight to the "Intelligence Consultation" area.

This area is relatively quiet, divided into individual quiet rooms engraved with isolation and detection arrays.

Soon, a maidservant dressed in a light purple cheongsam with lightning runes, with a beautiful face but an indifferent expression, and an aura at the early stage of Eternal True God, came forward and bowed slightly: "Senior, may I ask what kind of information you need? The Chamber of Commerce charges corresponding fees based on the level and content of the information."

His voice was calm, carrying a professional distance, clearly indicating that he was used to seeing all kinds of powerful people.

Xu Yang was not surprised that his cultivation level was seen through. If the Thunder Chamber of Commerce headquarters couldn't even see through his cultivation level, that would be a joke!
"I need information about the current situation of the six princes and the powerful individuals they are recruiting for this Thunder Origin Heart Grand Gathering," the Blood Shadow Elder said succinctly in a hoarse voice.

A knowing glint flashed in the maid's eyes; clearly, she had received many such inquiries recently. "This intelligence is classified as 'Grade A - Superior,' covering the recent public movements of the six princes, changes in the test rules, the confirmed list of recruited powerhouses and their strength assessments, current challenges and potential allies, etc. It will be updated within three days. The fee is 100,000 cosmic sands."

Despite the high price, Elder Blood Shadow didn't even flinch. He simply popped out a storage ring containing exactly 100,000 cosmic sands.

The maid took it, a flash of lightning at her fingertips confirming it was correct, and then gestured for her to follow: "Senior, please follow me to the quiet room."

Upon entering a tranquil room with lightning crackling across its walls, a maidservant respectfully presented a purple-gold crystal jade slip, saying, "All information has been recorded in this jade slip. Senior may consult it at will. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me." With that, she quietly withdrew and activated the isolation array of the room.

The Blood-Hidden Elder probed the jade slip with his divine sense.

A vast stream of information instantly flooded his mind, where it was rapidly processed and digested by his god-king-level will.

Currently, the eldest prince, Lei Hao, is the frontrunner and has the strongest momentum.

He was initially willing to spend a lot of money, offering extremely generous recruitment conditions.

Among his powerful subordinates is the Mysterious Yin Lady, a peak Chaos Realm cultivator. She rose to fame very early, cultivating the "Nine Nether Mysterious Yin Scripture," wielding extreme cold power that corrodes all things and freezes the soul. Her domain technique, "Mysterious Yin Ice Prison," is said to be able to freeze even chaos!

In the Thunder Merchant Guild's strength assessment, she belongs to the very top of the peak, capable of directly suppressing or even crushing ordinary peak Chaos Realm cultivators; the claim of her taking on two opponents single-handedly is no exaggeration. The other Palace Master of Miracle Fortune is also a peak Chaos Realm cultivator! A bloodthirsty demon, her methods are unpredictable and she is extremely bloodthirsty. Her strength is assessed to be comparable to that of the Mysterious Yin Lady; the two of them together would be incredibly formidable.

Next is the Second Prince, Lei Xuan, whose prestige closely follows Lei Hao's. He commands the Raging Flame Lord, a peak Chaos Realm expert! He wields raging flames like a raging sea, possessing formidable direct combat abilities.

There's also the Shadow Assassin King, a peak Chaos Realm expert! He excels in assassination, stealth, and speed, like a shadow beneath the earth, making his assassination methods impossible to defend against.

When the two join forces, they are equally terrifying!
Following closely behind the Third Prince, the Fifth Prince, and the Sixth Prince, their situations were similar. Each of them currently had at least one peak Chaos Realm expert under their command. With nearly fifty epochs remaining, the three of them were not in a hurry.

The fourth prince, Lei Zhan, was in the worst situation and faced an extremely difficult predicament!

He only had Venerable Qingmu and Granny Kurong under his command, both of whom were only at the top level of the Chaos Realm.

The root cause of this predicament is not that Lei Zhan himself is weak; on the contrary, Lei Zhan is extremely powerful, widely recognized as being among the top three of the six princes. Rather, it is that he has deep-seated grudges and irreconcilable differences with the eldest prince Lei Hao and the second prince Lei Xuan, making them sworn enemies.

Lei Hao and Lei Xuan's factions have publicly declared that they will join forces to eliminate him as soon as the Thunder Punishment Abyss opens!

Even though Lei Zhan's offer is more than double that of the other princes, the combined power of the Xuan Yin Lady, the Qi Yun Palace Master, the Nu Tao Yan Jun, and the Ying Sha Wang is simply too terrifying!
Most of the peak Chaos Realm cultivators knew they couldn't withstand the combined attack of these four, and the top experts were even more worried about being used as cannon fodder.

As a prince, Lei Zhan is of incomparably noble status. Even if he is ultimately defeated in the Thunder Punishment Abyss, his life will not be in danger. However, these guest elders who responded to the call will face a high probability of perishing in the abyss under the combined attack of the other two princes' factions, despite their considerable skills. The risks far outweigh the rewards!
Therefore, the only ones who dare to respond to Lei Zhan's call are Venerable Qingmu and Granny Kurong, two cultivators of the Great Dao of Life Origin who have maxed out their life-saving abilities, attempting to "seek wealth and honor in danger" in a desperate situation. Perhaps, these two also have clones.

In any case, Lei Zhan is currently in an extremely difficult situation. He rarely even goes to the square where he set up the test anymore... because when he does go, he basically just waits for the rabbit to run into the tree stump, and there are very few Chaos Realm cultivators venturing out.

……

The information on the jade slip has been read.

The Blood-Hidden Elder slowly withdrew his thoughts, and only the faint hum of lightning flowing through the crystals could be heard in the quiet room.

“Lei Zhan…” A crimson light silently flowed deep within his turbid eyes.

The situation is crystal clear!

Lei Hao and Lei Xuan boasted that their combined forces were unstoppable.

The Xuan Yin Niangniang and Qi Yun Gongzhu, and the Nu Tao Yan Jun and Ying Sha Wang, these two pairs can be called the "trump cards" among the peak of the Chaos Realm, enough to make most competitors hesitate.

Lei Zhan was alone and in grave danger!
Targeted by two powerful enemies, and with only two top-tier Chaos warriors skilled in self-preservation under his command, he is almost destined to be the first to be eliminated in the brutal battle for control of the Abyss.

The fact that he offered the highest price precisely reflects his predicament and urgency.

"It's easy to add flowers to brocade, but difficult to provide charcoal in the snow," the Blood-Hidden Elder muttered to himself.

At this moment, siding with Lei Hao or Lei Xuan would merely be icing on the cake, yielding limited resources. But siding with Lei Zhan, seemingly risky, would actually be a lifeline. If they successfully help him turn the tide, the rewards would far exceed the promises made by the other princes.

Risk and opportunity always coexist.

However, for the Blood Shadow Elder, who can unleash the power of the Chaos Realm Transcendence, the risk is not great; on the contrary, it is a tremendous opportunity!
"Lady Xuanyin, Palace Master Qiyun..." The Blood-Hidden Elder's lips curled into a very faint smile.

The mind has been made up.

He got up, walked out of the quiet room, handed the jade slip back to the waiting maid, and then left the magnificent Thunder Merchant Guild headquarters without stopping.

……

Guided by intelligence, the Blood Shadow Elder traversed most of the Holy City, arriving at a relatively peripheral area near the massive city walls. The architecture here was more rugged and imposing, lacking the ostentation of the central area and exuding a more somber atmosphere.

A sprawling mansion, resembling a small fortress, came into view.

The mansion is constructed entirely of massive, unrefined black rhomboid rock, with thick, angular walls that exude a rugged, resilient, and even somewhat reckless aura.

The mansion's main gate was not a magnificent archway, but two heavy metal doors engraved with simple yet sharp lightning runes. Above the gate hung a plaque also cast from black iron, bearing only three menacing characters that seemed to have been carved by lightning: "War Marquis's Mansion!"

At this moment, the gates of the Marquis's mansion were tightly shut, with only four powerful Eternal True God guards standing guard at the entrance, clad in dark red lightning armor. Their expressions were solemn, their eyes sharp as hawks, as they vigilantly scanned their surroundings, and a tense atmosphere of alertness permeated the air.

Clearly, the assassination attempt on the prince and their own difficult situation had put the Marquis's mansion on edge.

The Blood-Hidden Elder continued walking without stopping, heading straight for the gate of the Marquis's residence.

"Halt! This is the Marquis's residence, no unauthorized personnel allowed!" The captain of the guards, a scarred, burly man at the peak of the Eternal True God realm, shouted sharply, his hand already on the Thunder Blade at his waist. The other three guards instantly locked onto him, forming a pincer movement.

The Blood-Hidden Elder stopped in his tracks, his murky gaze calmly sweeping over the four guards.

An indescribable, chilling aura, seemingly originating from the deepest part of a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, accompanied by a trace of indifferent indifference as if all things were returning to silence, spread silently.

The four guards felt as if they had fallen into an ice cave.

They felt as if an invisible, icy hand was gripping their hearts, and their blood seemed to freeze. It wasn't just the pressure of the Chaos Realm; it was an instinctive fear brought about by an absolute difference in their level of life!

It was as if the person standing before him was not a withered old man, but the embodiment of death that had emerged from an ancient battlefield and reaped the lives of billions.

The hand holding the knife froze, and even breathing became difficult.

"This old man, Xueyin," a hoarse voice broke the silence, "has heard that His Highness Lei Zhan is recruiting talented people, so I have come to take the test."

The sound wasn't loud, but it reached the guards' ears clearly.

The guard captain's face was deathly pale, cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and he forced back the trembling in his soul as he managed to speak with difficulty: "Senior...please wait a moment, allow me to...allow me to inform you!"

He almost stumbled as he turned and ran into the Marquis's residence. (End of Chapter)