Swallowed Star: Lord of the Wolf

In the days that followed, the Lei Zhanhou residence seemed to have returned to a state of apparent calm.

The Blood-Hidden Elder rarely leaves his home, spending most of his time in the Purple Thunder Pavilion.

He didn't rush to refine the priceless Blood Thunder Bodhi Fruit and Nine Revolutions Thunder Tribulation Liquid. Instead, he took out the Chaos Thunder Source Crystal and began to refine it.

The Thunder Source Crystal is very pure and cannot enhance the [Bloodline] of the Golden Finger panel, but it can greatly stimulate the cultivation progress of the Radiant Golden Body, allowing it to climb to a higher level!
The pure thunder essence and chaotic Dao rhythm contained in the Chaos Thunder Source Crystal are excellent auxiliary cultivation resources for the body refining method "Radiant Golden Body," which requires consuming a large amount of precious resources.

Strands of pure purple lightning were drawn from the crystal and slowly merged into his flesh and bones.

sizzle...

The subtle sounds of thunder refining echoed continuously in the quiet room.

Deep within the seemingly withered body of the Blood-Hidden Elder, the flowing blood seemed to contain a deep rumble of thunder, and his bones and muscles underwent an extremely subtle yet essential slow transformation amidst the lightning intertwined with destruction and creation.

Occasionally, a faint purple lightning pattern would flash across his skin, then disappear into the vast blood energy, using the destructive and creative power of lightning to further temper and solidify his body.

Thunder is also a vessel for the cycle of birth and death!

Every act of destruction by lightning contains the opportunity for creation. Every act of creation by lightning also contains a trace of the embers of destruction.

This is remarkably similar to his understanding of the cycle of life and death. This kind of enlightenment and refinement greatly benefits him in enhancing his foundation and even deepening his understanding of the fundamental Dao.

Of course, this kind of cultivation is extremely mentally and resource-intensive. It would be difficult to carry out such a luxurious cultivation without the support of rare resources provided by Lei Zhan.

……

In the holy city.

On the streets, the figures of the Eternal True God can be seen everywhere, and the Void True Gods are even more numerous.

Knight squads riding powerful thunder beasts rumbled through the streets and alleys. Flying palaces or dazzling warships of various shapes and sizes, exuding a powerful aura, hovered at the gates of the holy city like giant sea monsters, waiting to enter.

Powerful individuals from different countries and ethnic groups gathered here, dressed in strange attire, their auras mixed, and the air was filled with an indescribable tension, anticipation, greed, and... a faint smell of blood.

Conflict is everywhere!
For the temporary right to use a precious cultivation site, for a valuable spiritual herb, or even just for a glance, fierce battles can erupt instantly.

The Holy City's enforcement team—those Thunder Prison soldiers clad in dark purple lightning rune armor and exuding a fierce aura—appeared like the busiest firefighters, constantly flashing throughout the city, forcibly suppressing fights, and throwing anyone who dared to fight with all their might and cause destruction within the city directly into the Thunder Prison!
"Get out of the way! This 'Thunder Refining Platform' has been reserved by my Heavenly Serpent Valley!" A fierce shout mixed with the hiss of a giant python rang out in the cultivation plaza beside a wide street. Several peak-level Eternal True Gods, their bodies covered in blue snake scales and exuding a chilling aura, were rudely driving away the cultivators who were originally in the plaza.

"Heavenly Serpent Valley? What a show of power! This Thunder Refining Platform belongs to the Holy City. When did it become your private property?" A burly man wielding a giant hammer engulfed in crimson flames retorted angrily. Flame laws surged around him, revealing him to be a peak Eternal True God.

"You're courting death!" A fierce glint flashed in the eyes of the leading expert from Heavenly Serpent Valley, and a huge azure serpent shadow formed from divine power suddenly pounced out, emitting a foul stench.

boom!
The flaming giant hammer met the attack head-on, unleashing a deafening roar!

The violent shockwave instantly overturned dozens of Void Gods who were unable to dodge in time.

"Insolence! How dare you run wild within the Holy City!" A fierce shout rang out, accompanied by a piercing sound of something tearing through the air.

A fluctuation was felt.

A Thunder Prison Army squad consisting of ten peak Eternal True Gods descended instantly.

With the support of the Holy City's grand formation, the leading squad leader's aura had reached the threshold of the Chaos Realm. He swung his long spear, which was flashing with dazzling lightning.

scoff!

A bolt of purple lightning, tearing through the void, struck down with perfect precision at the point of impact between the law-based green serpent and the flaming giant hammer.

boom! !

The violent energy surge was forcibly torn apart, neutralized, and annihilated by the purple lightning.

The two combatants simultaneously groaned, thrown backward by the immense impact, blood gushing from their mouths and noses, their eyes filled with horror.

"Heavenly Serpent Valley! Crimson Fire Sect! Engaging in gang fights and disrupting order! Each person will be fined 100,000 cosmic sands and sentenced to twelve years of reflection in Thunder Prison! Pay immediately! If you dare to lay a hand on someone again, you will be killed on the spot!" The squad leader's voice was icy cold, containing unquestionable authority and killing intent.

The two previously arrogant peak Eternal True Gods were now as wilted as eggplants, their faces ashen. They obediently took out their fines and were led away in disgrace.

The surrounding cultivators fell silent, their eyes filled with awe as they looked at Lei Yujun.

The Blood-Hidden Elder mingled in the crowd, watching the scene calmly like a spectator.

The will of a god-king is like an invisible net, covering an area of ​​tens of thousands of miles.

He strolled into a relatively quiet, yet still bustling, old street. Lined with many inconspicuous, even somewhat dilapidated, shops, their signs bearing strange and unusual names: "Gu Lei Zhai," "Shi Gu Fang," "Wang Hun Pawnshop," and so on.

The air was filled with a faint smell of mildew, medicine, and various other indescribable materials.

This is the Holy City's well-known "Dark Ruins," a place where "black goods" of dubious origin, illicit activities, or those with special significance are traded.

The Blood-Hidden Elder casually walked into a shop called "The Forest of Dry Bones".

The shop was dimly lit, and the shelves were filled with all sorts of strange skeletons: there were giant beast skulls that emitted faint lightning, finger bones that were as clear as crystal, and spines that were wrapped in a thick aura of death... An old man with a cold aura, who looked like a dried corpse, sat behind the counter without even lifting his eyelids.

The old man with the bloodstain swept his gaze across the shelf and finally landed on a piece of inconspicuous, palm-sized, grayish-brown, dead wood shaped like some kind of plant root nodule.

The surface of the dead wood was covered with fine cracks, seemingly rotten and decaying, but in his perception, it contained a strange, faint yet tenacious life force.

This primordial aura is very special, containing a flavor of immortality after endless desolation and new life being born from death, which resonates in a strange way with the profound mystery of his own life cycle of death.

It should be a type of wood struck by lightning, which is beneficial for cultivation.

"What is this item called? What is its price?" A hoarse voice broke the silence in the shop.

The old man, resembling a desiccated corpse, slowly raised his eyelids, his cloudy eyes looking at the Blood-Hidden Elder, then glancing at the withered wood. His voice was like sandpaper rubbing together: "A lightning-struck wood, intertwined with withered and flourishing, from the outer edge of the Thunder Abyss. It contains a trace of strange vitality, difficult to activate. One million cosmic sands."

This price is enough to bankrupt an ordinary Eternal True God. The Blood Shadow Elder didn't haggle, simply tossing out a storage bag filled with cosmic sand.

The old man took it, scanned it with his mind to confirm it was correct, and then said nothing more, as if the piece of dead wood had nothing to do with him anymore.

The Blood-Hidden Elder picked up the piece of withered, gray wood.

It felt cool and heavy to the touch, like jade. A tiny, subtle force of life, containing the profound meaning of the cycle of life and death, quietly probed into my fingertips.

hum!
The dormant life force within the dead wood seemed to be drawn in and suddenly throbbed.

A faint yet incredibly pure essence of life, refined through endless desolation and tempering, accompanied by a trace of the creative imprint originating from the destruction of thunder, slowly emanated and merged into his fingertips.

Although the quantity was extremely small, its high quality and profound meaning brought a slight joy to the Blood-Hidden Elder's heart.

"What a wonderful intertwining of life and death! This thing might have a miraculous effect on my understanding of 'rebirth from the depths of death'!" He was secretly delighted, put the withered wood into his sleeve, and turned to leave the strange shop.

The moment the Blood-Hidden Elder stepped out of the "Bone Forest".

A very subtle gaze, filled with scrutiny and malice, shot out from the crack in the second-floor window of the "Soul Pawnshop" across the street, like an invisible steel needle, and instantly locked onto him.

The owner of that gaze concealed his aura extremely well, but in the face of the Blood Hidden Elder's God-King level will, he was as clear as a firefly in the dark night—a middle-aged man with an ordinary face and an aura concealed at the level of an Eternal True God.

Deep within his soul, a faint, extremely subtle shadow fluctuation, similar to that of the Shadow Killer King, was lingering!

"Shadow Killer King? Or Lei Xuan's other subordinates?" The Blood Shadow Elder knew the answer in his heart. He did not stop walking at all, nor did he even glance in that direction, as if he was completely unaware.

He continued forward, like a true old man strolling about, and soon disappeared into the intricate flow of people in the dark alleyways of the ruins.

The owner of that gaze looked in the direction where the Blood Shadow Elder had disappeared, his brows furrowed as if trying to sense something. In the end, he shook his head, a hint of doubt on his face, and his figure silently disappeared into the shadows of the pawnshop.

……

Just as the Blood-Hidden Elder was searching for treasures in the Dark Ruins.

An unexpected visitor arrived at the Lei Zhanhou residence.

The Sixth Prince – Lei Jin.

The youngest prince was dressed in an unassuming black casual outfit, accompanied only by a woman of unparalleled beauty, a peak Chaos Realm cultivator known as "Blazing Snow Phoenix."

His face showed signs of fatigue and worry, and the sharpness in his brows had faded, making him appear somewhat dejected.

"Fourth Brother." When Lei Jin saw Lei Zhan, who had come out to greet him personally, he forced a bitter smile and quickly stepped forward, adopting a very humble posture. "I hope you will forgive my unauthorized visit, Fourth Brother."

Lei Zhan looked at his sixth brother, with whom he had never had much of a relationship and even had a subtle rivalry, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes, but he still maintained basic courtesy: "Sixth brother, please don't be so polite, please come in."

The guests and hosts took their seats in the reception room of the Marquis's residence.

Lei Jin cut to the chase, letting out a heavy sigh: "Fourth Brother, to be honest, I've come here because I'm desperate and have no other choice but to shamelessly ask for your help!"

"Oh?" Lei Zhan remained calm. "Sixth Brother, what makes you say that?"

"Fourth Brother, as you know, I had the weakest foundation during this trip to the Abyss. Although I was fortunate enough to recruit the Phoenix Dance Elder," Lei Jin pointed to the stunningly beautiful woman beside him, and Phoenix Dance nodded slightly to Lei Zhan, "I am far inferior to the powerful combinations under my eldest and second brothers, such as the Profound Yin Miracle and the Raging Wave Shadow Kill. Not to mention that a force that secretly targeted me appeared before, daring to infiltrate my residence and harm me!" Lei Jin's face was full of worry and helplessness.

Lei Zhan sneered inwardly.

A clandestine force? He had heard of it and even investigated it, but there were too many suspicious points. He even suspected that his sixth brother had orchestrated it himself. Otherwise, it was simply too unbelievable that three Chaos Realm cultivators could escape after assassinating a prince.

Remember, this is the Holy City!

Previously, Xuan Yin Qi Yun tested Xue Yin because Xue Yin's Zi Lei Xuan was not fully covered by the Marquis's Mansion Formation, and Xue Yin did not have the authority to mobilize the Marquis's Mansion Formation... But the prince is different. Inside the Marquis's Mansion, he can even use the Marquis's Mansion Formation to mobilize a trace of the Holy City Formation's power. And the power of the Holy City Formation, even if it is only a trace, is not something that a Chaos Realm cultivator can withstand.

Lei Jin, the sixth brother of his, seemed far too deliberate in his complaints. Was he simply trying to gain sympathy, or... had he some other motive?
As expected, Lei Jin changed the subject, forcing a fawning smile: "Fourth Brother! I heard that you recently recruited an extraordinary Blood Shadow Elder, capable of simultaneously withstanding the probing of the Profound Yin Fortune! Such methods are simply earth-shattering. I wonder... if Fourth Brother could, for the sake of our brotherhood, form an alliance with me during our journey into the Abyss? I dare not presume to ask for Lei Yuan's favor; I only hope to safely navigate this Abyss and preserve my ranking! Afterwards, I will surely repay you handsomely!"

His words were earnest, his posture extremely humble, even carrying a hint of pleading.

Huang Wu, standing to the side, was not annoyed at all. She bowed slightly, her posture respectful.

Lei Zhan's mind raced.

Lei Jin, the youngest of the six brothers, is far from simple-minded. His maternal clan isn't powerful, but he possesses exceptional talent and is deeply favored by his lineage. Is his feigned weakness and plea for help a genuine fear of elimination, or is he using him to betray his own side later?
Lei Zhan remained unmoved, simply picking up the jade cup with thunder patterns beside him and taking a sip of the Purple Mansion Spirit-Nourishing Tea. The rich aroma of the tea, along with the pure life energy, melted in his mouth, instantly calming his chaotic thoughts.

"Sixth Brother," Lei Zhan put down his teacup, a seemingly sincere smile appearing on his face, but his gaze was sharp as a knife, "you and I are brothers, of the same bloodline, and naturally allies within this royal family. Talking about asking for help is too formal. The Abyss is dangerous; our eldest and second brothers have already joined forces, their strength fully revealed. If we, as their younger brothers, cannot stand by and help each other, wouldn't we be at their mercy?"

His words were sincere, as if he genuinely wanted to support his brother.

However, Lei Jin felt a chill run down his spine. He knew his fourth brother all too well. The more eloquent Lei Zhan's words were, the more unfathomable his thoughts became.

"Fourth Brother is so understanding and righteous, I am deeply grateful!" Lei Jin's face immediately filled with surprise and gratitude, as if a drowning person had grabbed onto a piece of driftwood. "With Fourth Brother's words, the weight on my heart has finally been lifted! I wonder how Fourth Brother plans to join forces? I and Huang Wu will certainly follow Fourth Brother's lead!"

He lowered his stance even further, placing himself entirely in a subordinate position in his words. Huang Wu, standing to the side, remained expressionless, like a beauty sculpted from ice and snow.

"Follow my lead?" Lei Zhan laughed heartily, his laughter echoing in the spacious reception room, carrying a hint of pride yet concealing a sharp edge. "Sixth Brother, you flatter me. The journey to the Abyss is fraught with unpredictability. Everyone must rely on their own abilities. How can it be a matter of who listens to whom? Our alliance is based on mutual understanding, mutual support, and mutual assistance. Our primary goal is to avoid being defeated one by one by our eldest and second brothers."

He changed the subject, his gaze becoming profound: "As for the specific strategies and action plans... Sixth Brother, you know that the Abyss environment is unpredictable. Even a God-King wouldn't dare claim to be able to predict the situation in all areas. Discussing plans now is meaningless. It would be better to wait until the Abyss opens and we enter the outer area, then let our respective retainers discuss and decide based on the real-time situation. After all, the two retainers are the true main force, and their judgment is more crucial. What do you think, Sixth Brother?"

Lei Zhan's words were perfectly flawless.

They agreed to the alliance, but cleverly obscured the specific details, leaving it to the discussion of the offerings.

Everyone knows that it's impossible to make either side submit. Instead of making empty promises, it's better to establish the status of allies first. As for who will take the initiative after entering the abyss, that will depend on their respective methods and strength.

Especially... he still has Blood Shadow as his trump card. (End of Chapter)