Swallowed Star: Lord of the Wolf

In the distance, a towering stone statue, hundreds of feet tall, slowly turned its head.

The stone statue resembled a demon from legend, with wings, sharp horns, and its entire body made of black rock. Most eerie were its eyes—two glowing rubies, now staring intently at Blood Shadow.

"Roar--"

The gargoyle made no sound, but a mental wave struck Blood Shadow's consciousness like a heavy hammer.

Blood Shadow was prepared. He activated the secret technique "Eye of the Abyss" in his sea of ​​consciousness, causing gray mist to rise and dissipate most of the impact.

"Try this." Blood Shadow didn't engage in close combat as before, but stood still, forming hand seals.

He began to try to use the body provided by the infinite space to exert the power of the clone in that distant source world—not to summon the clone, but to project the authority of the "Seven Emotions Great Dao - Joy" into this body through some mysterious connection.

This is a technique that Blood Shadow spent a lot of time researching.

Because of his cheat ability, his soul is special, far more mysterious than any 'cloning technique' possessed by any powerful being within the cage. It can cross the barrier of the source world and share the insights of the Great Dao without being blocked.

"Joy is the essence of Yang, life, happiness, and exhilaration..."

Xue Yin chanted softly, and the divine power within his body began to circulate according to a completely new trajectory.

This wasn't the domineering, sharp feeling of the Great Dao of Destruction, but rather a warm, bright, and refreshing power.

Gradually, a pale pink light appeared on his palm.

The gargoyle seemed to sense the anomaly and let out an even louder roar. The surrounding boulders began to tremble, and dozens of house-sized rocks floated into the air, hurtling towards Blood Shadow like cannonballs.

Blood Shadow neither dodged nor avoided, but simply raised his hand and pushed forward.

"Boundless joy."

The pale pink light spread out like a tide.

The massive rocks that were hurtling towards us suddenly "softened" the moment they came into contact with the light—not physically, but the very rules that shaped them seemed to have changed. Smiling face-like patterns appeared on the rock surfaces, their speed decreased dramatically, and they finally landed lightly on the ground with a dull thud.

The gargoyle was stunned.

As a spiritual being, it could sense the essence of the power that Blood Shadow was currently wielding—something completely different from any of the Great Daos it knew in this Origin World.

It is not life, not destruction, not space, not time... but a completely new set of rules that apply to the levels of emotion, mind, and consciousness.

This is an unparalleled genius from this world!
They're already trying to pave a new path!
The gargoyle felt a pang of jealousy at the thought. It wasn't a powerful being in this Origin World, but its consciousness could project onto these native creatures, making it a kind of entrant into the infinite space... However, compared to the 'players' on the Origin Continent, they were more like 'NPCs'. NPCs could gain benefits, but they were far inferior to players. It had already been around for trillions of epochs and had encountered many powerful beings from the Origin Continent, but its own trials were far from over.

The genius before it possessed a very weak aura. According to the information it had gathered, he was at the first level of the God-King realm. Although the terminology differed from that of its own world, they could be compared in terms of strength level... If a powerhouse of this level were to stand before its true form, he wouldn't even last three moves before being reduced to dust.

But in this suppressed space, it must become the whetstone for the other side.

Blood Shadow was unaware of what the gargoyle was thinking. When he saw the pink halo strike the boulder, a look of joy flashed in his eyes: "It worked."

He immediately continued to activate the Seven Emotions Great Dao - the Power of Joy.

The pale pink light grew stronger and stronger, gradually enveloping the entire stone forest area. The originally grotesque and menacing stones became soft under the light, as if they had been given a kind of "joyful" mood.

The gargoyle began to writhe restlessly.

It tried to summon a stronger gravitational field, but found that its mental strength was being eroded and assimilated by the power of "joy".

This is a peculiar confrontation.

It's not about destructive head-on, but rather a gentle "transformation".

The Power of Joy is not meant to destroy the gargoyle's mind, but to make it "happy"—to make it give up fighting, give up hostility, and immerse itself in boundless joy.

"Roar..." The gargoyle's roar became somewhat hesitant.

Its ruby ​​eyes flickered uncertainly, its originally fierce gaze gradually turning bewildered. Pale pink patterns began to emerge on the black rock surface that made up its body, patterns that resembled smiling faces or celebratory designs.

Blood Shadow could sense that the gargoyles' resistance was weakening.

However, the native creatures of the infinite space were of extraordinary origin. Just as the gargoyle was about to be completely "transformed," a strong will of resistance suddenly erupted within it.

"Om-"

The gargoyle's eyes blazed with a brilliant red light, forcibly shattering the pale pink patterns. It roared silently to the sky, and the surrounding boulders floated up again, but this time they didn't crash down on Blood Shadow; instead, they began to spin and reform.

Dozens of boulders pieced together in mid-air to form a giant rock hand, which slammed down towards Blood Shadow.

This attack contained not only physical force, but also the entire will of the gargoyle—a heavy, oppressive, and desperate emotional force, completely opposite to Blood Shadow's "joy" power.

"A duel between sorrow and joy?" Xueyin's eyes were solemn.

He did not back down, but instead pushed the Seven Emotions Dao to its limit.

A pale pink light gathered behind him, transforming into a blurry phantom with a face somewhat resembling his true self—this was the manifestation of the Great Way of "Joy," an existence that was forever laughing and forever optimistic.

"Joy can overcome sorrow, and happiness can dispel worry!"

Blood Shadow clasped his hands together, and the phantom behind him did the same. The pale pink light no longer spread gently, but condensed into a beam of light, directly facing the giant rock hand.

A silent collision.

There was no explosion, no shockwave; only two diametrically opposed laws of nature eroding and dissolving each other.

The sense of "sorrow," "heaviness," and "pressure" on the giant rock palm clashes fiercely with the sense of "joy," "lightness," and "elevation" in the pale pink beam of light.

The rocks that formed the giant hand began to crumble, but in a peculiar way—they didn't shatter, but instead turned into countless tiny particles, each of which "laughed" and dissipated in a pale pink light.

The gargoyle's body began to tremble.

It sensed that its connection with this stone forest area was being severed. The rocks that were originally under its control now seemed to have their own "emotions" and no longer obeyed its commands.

More importantly, its own soul is also being permeated by the power of "joy".

A strange emotion began to grow in its consciousness—it was joy, ease, and carefree. This emotion conflicted with its instinct as a "guardian," plunging it into chaos.

"This is so unfair..." a resentful thought flashed through the gargoyle's mind. "Now!"

Blood Shadow seized the opportunity and flashed to appear in front of the gargoyle. He did not use the power of destruction, but instead concentrated all the power of the Seven Emotions Great Dao - Joy in his right index finger and gently touched the gargoyle's forehead.

"Joy lasts forever."

Pale pink light seeped into the gargoyle's rocky body like flowing water.

The gargoyle froze.

Its ruby-like eyes gradually changed from blood red to a warm orange-yellow. On the black rock that made up its body, pale pink patterns reappeared, but this time they were not shattered; instead, they were deeply imprinted, becoming part of the gargoyle's body.

The gargoyle slowly lowered its head and looked at Blood Shadow.

Its eyes changed—no longer hostile, no longer fierce, only a calm, almost "joyful" emotion. It stretched out a hand made of rock and gently touched Bloodshadow's shoulder, then its entire body began to glow.

"boom."

The gargoyles transformed into countless specks of light and dissipated into the air.

Those points of light were not ordinary streaks of light, but rather carried a pale pink afterglow, like festive fireworks.

Blood Shadow stood there, slightly out of breath.

Using the Seven Emotions Dao was extremely taxing on his mind, especially crossing the projection authority of the Source World, which made his sea of ​​consciousness feel like it was being torn apart. But this expenditure was worthwhile—

The regular markings on my left palm started to get hot.

Immediately afterwards, a message entered his consciousness directly:
"Trial Bearers: Blood Shadow of the Origin Continent"

"From nothing to something, a new branch of the Great Dao has been opened up in this world of Fangyuan. New Great Dao rating: Superior. Reward points: 10000. On this new Great Dao, you have finally taken the first step. You still need to work hard."

"Your willpower is acceptable, but it needs improvement."

"Repel native creatures. Reward points: 0.98."

"Total reward points: 10012.97 points."

Blood Shadow was stunned, then overjoyed!

10000 points!
Sure enough, the reward for opening up a new branch of the road is the most generous!
"No wonder the Infinite Space is the treasure land for Luo Feng's rise..." Xue Yin muttered to himself, "I guess I 'cheated' here, but for those geniuses who have the ambition and ability to forge their own path, this place is simply paradise."

Previously, I found it difficult to earn reward points by killing native creatures, but now that I've turned on the cheat, I've suddenly gained a large fortune.

The design philosophy of Infinite Space is clear: it doesn't encourage mindless grinding, but rather rewards genuine "innovation" and "breakthroughs." Opening new paths and elevating one's will—these are the values ​​that Infinite Space recognizes.

"This 'superior' rating... is actually on the same level as Luo Feng's Dao of Life and Death?" Xue Yin wondered in surprise.

It seems that the Seven Emotions Path is a rather special path in the Origin World, involving deep-seated rules of emotions, mind, and consciousness. In the evaluation system of infinite space, it is rated as "superior," comparable to Luo Feng's 'Birth and Death Origin Path,' which combines the two Origin Paths.

"The Infinite Space has existed for an unknown amount of time, and countless geniuses have left their mark here. Fortunately, as long as it's not one of the 19 Great Daos that are sealed off in the Origin Continent, the rewards can be triggered." Blood Shadow's face revealed joy.

He checked the rule mark on his palm, and the reward points had indeed changed to 10012.97.

This "huge sum" stirred a surge of impulse within Blood Shadow—to immediately go to the treasure vault and exchange it for those coveted inheritances and treasures.

But he forced himself to remain calm.

"No rush. Let's deal with the last native creature before making a proper plan." Blood Shadow looked towards the north side of the island.

The creature to the north, according to the map information, is a "Phantom Butterfly"—a creature capable of creating auditory hallucinations and launching mental attacks through sound.

Blood Shadow flew north, but his mind was preoccupied with another question: "The Seven Emotions Path has seven branches: joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, and desire. I currently only possess the power of 'joy.' If I continue to comprehend the other branches, would that be considered opening up a new path?"

According to Luo Feng's experience, he received a reward of 10000 points when he comprehended the first branch of the Dao of Life and Death, but there were no rewards for subsequent branches. The rule of the Infinite Space is: the "first" branch of a brand new Dao is richly rewarded, and subsequent branches are considered as improvements within the framework of the Dao and are no longer rewarded separately.

"In other words, if I want to gain a lot of reward points again, I either need to upgrade the Seven Emotions Path to a higher rating (such as from superior to special grade), or open up a completely new path," Blood Shadow pondered. "Or... improve my mental will."

When one's mental will reaches the "Ultimate God King Realm" rating in the Chaos Realm, the reward is 10000 points.

This number is considerable, but the difficulty is also extremely high. Luo Feng reached the ultimate level of God King's will when he was in the Chaos Realm, which was the result of countless opportunities.

Xueyin is already a God-King, and his mental will is also at the second level of the God-King realm. He still has a long way to go before reaching the Ultimate realm. Moreover, even if he breaks through to the Ultimate realm, the rewards will probably be reduced.

After all, it is extremely rare for someone in the Chaos Realm to possess the will of the Ultimate Realm, but someone in the First Realm to possess the will of the Ultimate Realm can probably only be described as 'rare'.

"Let's take it one step at a time." Blood Shadow landed in the northern region.

This is a sea of ​​flowers.

Countless colorful and strangely shaped flowers swayed in the breeze, releasing a captivating fragrance. In the center of the sea of ​​flowers, a butterfly the size of a palm, with wings of iridescent rainbow colors, was fluttering about.

Its dance is graceful yet eerie, and each flap of its wings creates visible ripples of sound waves.

As soon as Xueyin stepped into the sea of ​​flowers, he was greeted by a cacophony of sounds—the cries of infants, the soft laughter of women, the clanging of clashing swords, the howling of the wind… These sounds flooded his mind in a chaotic jumble, attempting to disturb his concentration.

"A sound-based illusion." Blood Shadow activated the Eye of the Abyss, constructing a soundproof barrier within his sea of ​​consciousness.

However, the Phantom Butterfly's attack method is unique. Its sounds don't enter through the ears, but directly affect the mind, rendering sound barriers ineffective.

Blood Shadow felt a wave of dizziness, and the scene before his eyes began to distort.

The sea of ​​flowers turned into a battlefield, then into a palace, then into the Blood Hidden City of his memories…

"Huh, what a small skill."

This time, Xueyin didn't intend to use the Dao of Destruction to fight head-on, nor did he plan to use the Seven Emotions Dao - Authority of Joy that he had just tried. He wanted to try a different approach—

Since the Phantom Butterfly uses sound as its medium, can it "use its own methods against it"?
Xue Yin closed his eyes, completely immersed in his sea of ​​consciousness.

He began to recall all the musical techniques he possessed. As a god-king level being, he had explored many fields throughout his long life, and although he hadn't specifically cultivated musical techniques, he had read countless of them. (End of Chapter)