Swallowed Star: Primordial Artifact

Chapter 306 Threat
Above the Three Extremes Abyss, the powerful aura of wind, lightning, and light rose continuously from beneath Jiang Ye's feet, and the rich power of the primal laws rendered this space colorful.

"Alien Venerable, if you want to kill me, don't blame me for self-destructing. You should know what the consequences of my self-destruction above the Three Extremes Abyss will be!" Jiang Ye immediately roared through telepathy.

"Wait!" Upon hearing this, the alien venerable one trembled violently, and a deep sense of anxiety instantly welled up in his blood-red eyes.

He had a bad feeling in his heart, not expecting that this human knew the secrets of the "Three Extremes Abyss" and the "Chrysalis of Time".

It should be understood that ordinary immortal-level powerhouses would have no way of knowing these secrets of the origin-type treasures.

Moreover, judging from the words of this human intruder, he clearly has an extremely thorough understanding of the "Three Extremes Abyss" and even knows its key points.

"Human, please don't self-destruct! Absolutely not!" The alien venerable urged anxiously. The reason he had only used soul control when he appeared, instead of using divine power to directly kill Jiang Ye and the Ancestral Dragon's avatar, was partly to prevent the news from leaking out, so as not to expose the secret he had painstakingly protected; and partly because he was wary that if his powerful divine power were to erupt, it would have an immeasurable impact on the "Three Extremes Abyss".

This Three Extremes Abyss is a unique environment naturally formed in the universe.

The power generated by the self-destruction of a King-level Immortal powerhouse was enough to tear apart space and cause serious damage to the Three Extremes Abyss.

Although the Three Extremes Abyss can gradually repair itself over the long years, the "Chrysalis of Time" that has been nurtured there will no longer be able to absorb energy.

"How did this human do that! How could he not be controlled by my soul? Even if he could resist, how could he be completely unaffected?" The alien venerable was anxious.

If an ordinary intruder dared to threaten him like this, he would have killed them without hesitation.

But this human in front of him was able to withstand his soul control without a scratch. In that case, his soul-annihilating method using ethereal divine power would probably be ineffective as well.

……

At the same instant, within Jiang Ye's inner world.

"The alien venerable one before us is definitely at the level of a cosmic overlord. That special life form that was previously at the invincible king level must have been his soul servant!"

"Leave some tokens so that Dark Thunder King can take the original core and leave this place temporarily." The Ancestral Dragon clone frowned slightly and said after thinking for a moment.

Jiang Ye had been careful beforehand, and had his soul servant Dark Thunder King hide outside with his Chaos Core.

After all, if he encounters an unavoidable event, as long as the Chaos Origin Core is still intact, Jiang Ye will not need to fear death.

Although the treasures on his body might be lost due to his demise, the primordial treasures he truly cherished, the Jade Disc of Creation and the Cauldron of Heaven and Earth, would not be lost. Therefore, for Jiang Ye, everything was not unacceptable.

Jiang Ye contacted Dark Thunder King, who was lurking in the God Kingdom billions of kilometers away, without hesitation.

Upon receiving the order, Dark Thunder King immediately threw a spatial ring disguised as a rock fragment into the many rubble in the cave. He then flew down and used a miniature detector to isolate energy fluctuations, and began to activate the divine kingdom teleportation.

A hazy golden light shone forth.

The Divine Kingdom teleportation has been activated.

With a single step, Dark Thunder King instantly traveled to the distant divine realm and left this place.

……

Inside the suspended cone-shaped mountain, Jiang Ye hovered between the "Three Extremes Abyss" and the "Chrysalis of Time," gazing at the alien venerable one standing on the edge of the Three Extremes Abyss.

"What is the origin of this alien venerable one before me? Is he a venerable one from one of the other three major factions, or..." Jiang Ye pondered to himself. He then separated a portion of his consciousness to connect to the virtual universe.

"Oh!"

An incomparably powerful divine force instantly suppressed Jiang Ye.

"Human." The alien venerable one's previous anxiety and anger vanished, replaced by an icy indifference. He stared at Jiang Ye and slowly said, "You, an immortal, have indeed shown some skill in resisting my soul control. However—you are utterly foolish. Did you think self-destruction could threaten me? If you had self-destructed immediately when I was caught off guard, I might have had some reservations. But now, given a little time, you will be utterly powerless to retaliate—"

"Buzz!"

Above the three-colored pool, a thin, membrane-like shield suddenly condensed, containing immense divine power. This shield, entirely formed of divine power, firmly protected the Three Extremes Abyss.

"Haha, now, even if you really self-destruct, with the power of your immortal god's self-destruction, how could you possibly destroy my divine power shield?" The alien venerable was full of confidence, as if victory was in his grasp.

Jiang Ye looked at him calmly.

Despite being tightly bound by this powerful divine force, Jiang Ye showed no sign of tension.

"Alien race, your strength is indeed formidable. I believe that even if I self-destruct, I cannot break this divine power shield." Jiang Ye smiled. "But do you think I would be so foolish?"

The alien venerable one was slightly taken aback, then suddenly remembered something and was startled!
"Don't forget, I am a human!" Jiang Ye said.

"A virtual universe, a human virtual universe?" The alien venerable's expression instantly turned extremely ugly.

"Haha." Jiang Ye chuckled. "The moment I discovered you, I left numerous messages in the virtual universe and set the sending conditions: once I disconnect from the virtual universe, all the messages will be sent immediately. At that time, my friends and the super strong members of my clan will immediately know the situation here."

"By the way, when the four top clans opened up the extraterritorial battlefield, they clearly stipulated that Venerables and above were not allowed to enter. Am I right? Venerable Li Qiong of the Northern Frontier Alliance!"

The Northern Frontier Alliance: One of the nine super powers in the primordial universe, and the alliance with the most diverse populations in the universe, comprising a number of weak and ordinary races, and a very small number of powerful races. They have invited the strongest individual in the universe, a lone wolf, to oversee it.

The number of Universe Venerables is more than a hundred times that of the Hong Alliance, and there are also about a hundred Universe Lords.

The Venerable Liqiong, whose identity had been exposed, became even more ferocious, gritting his teeth.

He hadn't expected this human to be so troublesome, not only able to resist his soul control but also to recognize his identity in a short time and seize his weakness, setting up such a backup plan in the virtual universe.

Having his identity exposed, Venerable Liqiong's face became even more ferocious and twisted as he gritted his teeth and said, "Speak, human, what exactly do you want?"

Li Qiong came from the Northern Frontier Alliance. Back when the four top races were opening up extraterritorial battlefields for sweeping operations, he briefly joined the demon race's camp with a special clone, which led him to discover this place by chance. At that time, the Three Extremes Abyss had just taken shape. In order to avoid being discovered by others, he set up a hidden spatial array around it and arranged for the special life form Star Wing King, which he enslaved, to be stationed there.

He has painstakingly built this up over many years, and now that the pupa of time is about to mature, he absolutely cannot allow any mishaps at this crucial moment!
“My life and death are now entirely in your hands. Even if you give me some treasure now, once you get the Time Cocoon, you'll probably kill me to silence me. How can I trust you?” Jiang Ye said bluntly.

……

Jiang Ye and Venerable Li Qiong remained locked in a stalemate, deliberately stalling for time.

In fact, when Jiang Ye first discovered the alien venerable one, he originally planned to rush directly into the Three Extremes Abyss below.

Through his virtual universe research, he learned some secrets about the Three Extremes Abyss: the Three Extremes Abyss consists of three abysses that connect to the original universe, and once he enters one, he will be teleported along the abyss.

However, the origin of the universe will reject him and remove him during the teleportation process, thus allowing him to escape.

The true secrets of this "Three Extremes Abyss" are probably unknown even to ordinary cosmic venerables. Although the Venerable Li Qiong before us is from the Northern Frontier Alliance and possesses immense strength, reaching the level of a cosmic overlord, his clan is similar to the Golden Horn Clan led by Herodo in the past—an ordinary clan that might not be aware of these secrets.

however--

Just as Jiang Ye was preparing to carry out his plan and had just flown above the Three Extremes Abyss and below the Time Cocoon, he suddenly changed his mind! Because he discovered something that shocked him.

"Buzz buzz~~"

In the central continent of Jiang Ye's inner world, at the Chaos Abyss.

Above the Chaos Stone suspended in the center of the abyss, various complex and profound primordial laws and patterns are faintly visible.

At this moment, the Chaos Stone seemed to resonate in a strange way with the Time Cocoon above it. Strange energies, like flowing streams, continuously flowed into the Chaos Stone, causing it to slowly undergo a transformation.

Chaos Stone and Time Chrysalis
Although one was born from Jiang Ye's inner world and the other was condensed over a long period of time in the Three Extremes Abyss, they are essentially closely connected to the origin of the universe.

The Chaos Stone was formed from the inner world, which spans 900 million kilometers in length and width, through Jiang Ye's ascension to the World Lord realm and communication with the sea of ​​primordial laws of the universe. It is incredibly hard, and even an immortal powerhouse could not destroy it with all their might.

The Time Cocoon is formed by the condensation of the lower-level laws of the three time laws through the communication of the Three Extremes Abyss. Similarly, as a primordial treasure material, its sturdiness is self-evident.

"Is it going to directly absorb the energy of the Time Chrysalis?" Jiang Ye wondered to himself.

Chaos Stone, Time Chrysalis...

When Jiang Ye appeared below the Heart of Space, strange changes began to occur. Streams of energy were continuously transmitted into the Chaos Abyss under the resonance of the two crystal spheres (Chaos Stone and Time Cocoon).

……

It was precisely because of this change that Jiang Ye deliberately stalled for time with Venerable Li Qiong.

"Damn humans, tell me, what do you want? Propose a perfect solution!" Venerable Liqiong roared with a ferocious expression, his voice echoing through the mountain.

"Let me think about it," Jiang Ye said, frowning.

“Venerable Liqiong, I am self-aware and know my own strength.” Jiang Ye looked at Venerable Liqiong standing by the Three Extremes Abyss and said, “I have no desire for that Time Cocoon, I just don’t want to perish. But now, I really don’t know how to believe that you won’t kill me.”

"Hmph, you human do have some self-awareness. I've been planning this Time Cocoon since it first formed. You expect me to guarantee I won't kill you?" Venerable Liqiong sneered, his anger subsiding somewhat. "Here's the deal! You come up with a solution I can accept, otherwise, if the news leaks, I'll deal with you first!"

Jiang Ye quickly considered countermeasures in his mind, but on the surface he still looked worried.

At this moment, he was not entirely sure how long it would take for the Chaos Stone to fully absorb the Time Cocoon; all he could do now was stall for time.

He knew that Venerable Liqiong would never easily let him off the hook if he might reveal that there were primordial treasure materials here.

Venerable Liqiong looked at the Starlight Alien King beside him with his scarlet blood-red eyes and said, "How about this, human? I will give you the Star Crystal Core of my strongest soul slave, Starwing King. As long as I make a move against you, you can kill him instantly!"

Jiang Ye's heart stirred. Venerable Li Qiong's proposal to use Star Wing King's Star Crystal Core as collateral seemed like a good solution, but he knew that there might be hidden tricks involved. As Venerable Li Qiong's soul servant, Star Wing King was a special life form and had reached the level of invincible king, but compared to a high-grade treasure material, even with the treasures he possessed, it was still far inferior.

However, Jiang Ye had no better choice at the moment. If he refused directly, he might anger Venerable Li Qiong and cause the negotiations to break down.

“Venerable Liqiong, using the Star Wing King’s Star Crystal Core as collateral is not out of the question. But three more treasures must be added!” Jiang Ye looked at Venerable Liqiong with a cautious gaze.

Venerable Liqiong's face instantly darkened, a flash of anger appearing in his eyes: "Human, don't push your luck! Starwing King is a special life form at the invincible level of a King-level being. I was only able to enslave him by chance back then, and you still demand three precious treasures?"

Jiang Ye remained calm and composed, making exorbitant demands while trying to negotiate the price down the drain. He was simply trying to stall for time: "Venerable Li Qiong, you know my methods. Once the news leaks, everything you have painstakingly built will be in vain. Three treasures may seem like a lot, but compared to this Time Cocoon, they are nothing more than a drop in the ocean."

“Venerable Liqiong, how about this? My soul servant will take those three treasures, and I am willing to stay by your side and guard them until the Time Cocoon takes shape,” Jiang Ye said.

Venerable Liqiong weighed the matter in his mind and concluded that what the human in front of him said was indeed reasonable.

This is an extraterritorial battlefield, and given the rules set by the four top clans, he dares not expose himself.

However, three precious treasures are no small sum, and even with his wealth, he felt a pang of regret.

"Hmph, three treasures are absolutely impossible. I can only give you one at most. This is already my biggest concession. If you don't agree, then we'll part ways!" Venerable Liqiong said through gritted teeth, his eyes fixed on Jiang Ye.

Jiang Ye pondered for a moment and realized that Venerable Li Qiong had already reached his limit. Further pressure would likely backfire.

“Alright, one at a time. But this treasure must be a top-tier treasure.”

……

While verbally negotiating with Venerable Liqiong, Jiang Ye's mind was almost entirely focused on his internal affairs.

(End of this chapter)