Swallow the starry sky, grind to become the strongest in the universe

Chapter 263 The First Advance Payment of the Chaos Realm

“I have seen Brother Xuanming’s sincerity. However, I have never heard of any Chaos Realm guest elder who can directly receive a treasure or inheritance worth a million merits. Brother Xuanming, could you please speak frankly with me?”

Yu Duan was not opposed to becoming a guest minister of the Yanfeng Ancient Kingdom. Why would he refuse money offered to him?
However, under normal circumstances, the initial treatment of a Chaos Realm guest elder is only a credit limit of 10 merits.

Even a guest elder at the first level of the God King realm only has a 'loan' limit of one million merits, and certainly not the kind of treatment Yu Duan receives.

Yu Duan still needs to think twice about such a windfall.

Di Xuanming laughed and said, "Since Brother Hengjie has asked, I will naturally not hide anything from you."

“My father is the Mysterious Silk God King, Brother Hengjie should have heard of him.”

"Therefore, I also received some inside information in advance. It will take at least ten epochs, or at most a hundred epochs, for my Yanfeng royal family to issue a level-one mission. The reward for this mission will determine whether I can advance further within a thousand epochs and become a God King."

“Now, every single one of the Chaos Realm Transcendent beings on the entire Origin Continent has their own affiliation, except for Brother Hengjie, who is an exception.”

The competition for resources within the royal family of the Yanfeng Ancient Kingdom is also extremely fierce.

Apart from the Emperor Qing lineage, which stands above all others, the other twelve emperors all need to compete for the share of resources sent back by the ancient kingdom's founder.

The God-King has its own way of competing, and the First-Class Lord of Chaos has its own way of competing.

Issuing tasks is a scheme to determine how many resources a first-class lord of chaos can receive.

Generally speaking, it is divided into four levels: Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow.

Celestial-level missions are only issued once every few hundred thousand epochs. When the last Celestial-level mission was issued, Emperor Xuanming had not yet been born.

Earth-level missions are issued once every tens of thousands of epochs, while Profound-level and Yellow-level missions are issued at fixed intervals of one thousand and one hundred epochs, respectively.

"I will give up resources and treasures worth millions of merits if I can recruit Brother Hengjie. In the upcoming Earth-level mission, I will gain ten times or even a hundred times the reward."

Even within the royal family of an ancient kingdom, a Yellow-level mission, issued only once every hundred epochs, would be worth at least tens of thousands of merits in the hands of any Chaos First-Class Marquis.

Tens of thousands of merits are equivalent to hundreds of millions of cosmic sands, and in fact, it is possible to privately trade for a billion cosmic sands. Even for a Chaos Realm expert, it would take a very long time to accumulate a billion cosmic sands.

“Brother Hengjie, I won’t lie to you. Among the six first-class marquises in the Chaos Realm of my Xuandu lineage, I am the youngest and have not yet recruited any guest elders.”

"Therefore, I am always at the bottom in every resource competition."

Each of the first-class marquises of the Yanfeng Ancient Kingdom's royal family has only two guest minister positions.

These guest elder slots are extremely valuable. As long as they are not used, they can be used as bait to lure a bunch of peak Chaos Realm cultivators to work for Di Xuanming for free.

Unless someone like Yu Duan has transcended the Chaos Realm, or has the potential to transcend the Chaos Realm, Di Xuanming would never use his own spot.

Di Xuanming continued, "It doesn't matter if you don't get a ranking or much resource from regular Xuan-level or Huang-level missions."

"But the rewards for Earth-level missions are different; Earth-level missions usually include some rare and precious treasures."

“I am not my father’s only son. I also have several brothers who are at the God King level. I would normally have a hard time obtaining treasures of this level.”

"If Brother Hengjie can help me become one of the top three of the six first-class marquises, allowing me to choose the treasures first, I will also pay extra rewards!"

Di Xuanming's words were extremely sincere.

Upon hearing this, Yu Duan no longer hesitated and said, "Brother Xuanming is so sincere, it would be rather unreasonable of me to refuse."

Upon hearing this, Di Xuanming finally smiled and quickly raised his wine cup, saying, "Brother Hengjie, this is my father's treasured Moon Spirit Wine, which I stole years ago. It tastes quite good, please drink!"

Yu Duan chuckled, then picked up his wine cup and said, "There is one more thing. My servant Mohe is a peak Chaos Realm cultivator. Of course, ordinary peak Chaos Realm cultivators are no match for him. I wonder if he could also become Brother Xuanming's guest?"

“No problem, I’ve reserved this spot to attract true powerhouses from the Chaos Realm. Since Brother Hengjie is willing to become my guest elder, this spot can naturally be given to him!”

Throughout the entire Origin Continent, including Yu Duan, there are only seventy-one people who have transcended to the Chaos Realm.

The Yanfeng Ancient Kingdom has more than seventy first-class marquises, and not all of them are guest ministers who have transcended the Chaos Realm; they need to be recruited.

“Brother Xuanming is very generous. Once the Earth-level mission is issued, I will do my best to help you win a good ranking.”

Yu Duan was unsure when the prefecture-level task would be released.

Even if it were ten epochs, Yu Duan wouldn't be confident of becoming the strongest Chaos Realm expert in the entire Origin Continent.

But if it is issued 20 or 30 epochs later, then Yu Duan will have absolute confidence to suppress all Chaos Realm beings!

Upon hearing this, Di Xuanming couldn't help but laugh and downed the wine in his cup in one gulp.

Thus, after several rounds of drinks and five courses of food, the banquet finally came to an end.

Di Xuanming pulled Yu Duan back to Xuandu to confirm Yu Duan's status as a guest elder. If someone else snatched the position before things settled down, Di Xuanming would have nowhere to cry.

……

The ancient kingdom of Yanfeng has thirteen imperial capitals, each corresponding to a different emperor.

Xuandu is the most low-key of these imperial capitals, and its scale is slightly smaller compared to the imperial capitals of other emperors.

Even so, it was still many times larger than Sanyuan City, spanning hundreds of millions of kilometers, and its walls were made of countless divine-king level treasures.

If used to refine primordial embryos, the materials from this city wall alone could probably refine countless tens of thousands of primordial embryos.

Within Xuandu, there are hundreds of mansions belonging to God-King level experts. Among them are mansions of God-King level royal family members and God-King level guest elders, but not all of them necessarily have a God-King residing there permanently.

As for the mansions in the Chaos Realm, there are countless of them.

On the contrary, there are very few residences of Eternal True Gods. Only those royal Eternal True Gods who possess infinite divine bodies can obtain their own independent residences in Xuandu.

In the southeastern corner of Xuandu, there is a continuous palace complex.

“Brother Hengjie, this is my residence.”

Di Xuanming pointed to his own residence, and then to the two residences next to it, saying, "These two residences were prepared by me long ago for my future guest elders, and now they belong to Brother Hengjie."

Whether Mohe, as Yu Duan's servant, was at the peak of the Chaos Realm was of no concern to Di Xuanming.

Even the guest elder token of Mohe was directly given to Yu Duan by Di Xuanming, along with the 100,000 merit points belonging to Mohe, for Yu Duan to use.

In Di Xuanming's eyes, Mohe was just an extra, and his strength was irrelevant.

"Father!"

"Meet Father!"

"..."

A dozen or so young men and women poured out of the mansion, surrounded by guards and servants, to greet Emperor Xuanming.

Di Xuanming said solemnly, "This is Brother Hengjie. You should pay your respects as nephews and nieces!"

Upon hearing this, regardless of what they thought in their hearts, Di Xuanming's descendants dared not show the slightest negligence and hurriedly bowed to Yu Duan: "Greetings, Uncle Hengjie!"

Yu Duan smiled and nodded, responding to each question.

After exchanging pleasantries, Di Xuanming led Yu Duan into an extremely luxuriously decorated hall.

"Brother Hengjie has become my guest retainer. As per our previous agreement, I will present Brother Hengjie with a treasure or inheritance worth a million merits. I wonder what Brother Hengjie desires?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Duan didn't waste any words and directly listed all the materials he needed to refine his Undying Golden Body, saying, "Brother Xuanming, these are the materials I need for my cultivation, worth about 180 billion cosmic sands."

"If Brother Xuanming has these materials, he can gather enough for 10 billion cosmic sands."

Di Xuanming looked at the list that Yu Duan had compiled with some surprise.

The material from 180 billion cosmic sands may seem to be worth 180 million merits, but in reality, they are not equivalent.

These materials are something that ordinary god-king level forces can gather, and they are only relatively precious to those in the Chaos Realm. Exchanging merits for these materials is an extreme waste.

"Since I have promised Brother Hengjie, I will not go back on my word."

“Brother Hengjie, there’s no need to be so polite. Just ask. Even if it’s a treasure worth more than a million merits, I can get it for you.”

As soon as Di Xuanming finished speaking, Yu Duan couldn't help but laugh.

“Brother Xuanming, I’m not being polite. If you feel I’m at a disadvantage, please give me some materials from the corpses of God-King level beings.”

Even a god-king level corpse is considered a valuable material.

The complete corpse of an ordinary God-King is worth no less than a God-King level weapon; it can always be sold for hundreds of billions of cosmic sands.

Upon hearing this, Di Xuanming immediately realized that Yu Duan certainly did not lack any inheritance.

After a moment of contemplation, Di Xuanming waved his hand, and two world boxes appeared.

“Brother Hengjie, this first world box contains 12 billion cosmic sands. As a guest elder of the Chaos Realm, Brother Hengjie will also receive a discount at the Yanfeng Guild Hall, enough to purchase all the treasures on that list.” “In another world box, there is the arm of a Body Refining God-King level expert, about 10 billion kilometers long, containing the mysteries of the two fundamental Daos of life and matter.”

After saying that, Di Xuanming continued, "If there are any good tasks in Xuandu these days that can earn me merit, I will definitely keep an eye out for them for Brother Hengjie!"

"Then thank you very much, Brother Xuanming."

Yu Duan accepted the treasure, thanked Di Xuanming, and after exchanging a few words, he took his leave and returned to his new residence to go into seclusion.

After Yu Duan left, Di Xuanming said with some emotion, "This Hengjie brother is also an honest man. The five-epoch wait he endured was probably a test to see if I was worth befriending."

At this moment, a young man with a slightly immature face walked in and bowed to Di Xuanming, saying, "Greetings, Father."

When Di Xuanming saw his eldest son, he smiled and said, "Zhang'er, what brings you here?"

Di Xuanzhang said helplessly, "Father, my teacher was quite dissatisfied when he learned that you had recruited two Chaos Realm guest elders at once, and he intends to challenge that Mohe guest elder."

The information about Yu Duan and Mohe has already spread among the various forces that Di Xuanming has befriended.

Many people were dissatisfied, especially the teachers of Emperor Xuanming's children and the maternal families of his wives and concubines.

They were willing to befriend Di Xuanming for the sake of the Chaos Realm guest elder position.

If Emperor Xuanming grants a spot to a Chaos Realm Transcendence cultivator, they certainly won't have the slightest dissatisfaction.

But why should a servant who has transcended the Chaos Realm also be given a spot?
Di Xuanming frowned slightly and said, "This Black Heaven Great Sage... never mind, Zhang'er, go and tell the Black Heaven Great Sage that I am willing to apologize to him in person."

……

Meanwhile, inside Yu Duan's residence.

“Master, this new mansion is truly magnificent. Perceiving the Great Dao of Origin here is much clearer than in Sanyuan City.”

Although Mohe can progress by comprehending his own destructive origin without needing to perceive the fundamental Dao of the source world, this does not mean that Mohe cannot perceive the fluctuations of the fundamental Dao.

The environment of Xuandu is unique, and the clarity of perception of the fundamental Dao is several times higher than that of ordinary large cities.

"You have your own residence, why don't you go there to cultivate?" Yu Duan looked at Mohe and smiled.

Mohe quickly shook his head: "Protecting my master is my highest mission, and I will definitely not stray from him!"

Yu Duan chuckled and tossed him the guest elder token from Mohe: "A guest elder in the Chaos Realm has an advance limit of 100,000 merits. You can choose whichever you like."

"If you were to devour the arm of a God-King level expert, how long would it take you to become a God-King yourself?"

"Hehe, the arm of this God-King realm expert is far stronger than devouring ten peak Chaos realm experts. I will definitely be able to break through in a few epochs at the fastest, and a dozen epochs at the slowest!"

Even a powerhouse who has just entered the God King level has a hundred times the energy of an ordinary peak Chaos Realm cultivator.

For Mohe, devouring the arm of a god-king level being would be an absolute stroke of luck, allowing him to take the final step and break through the bottleneck of the peak of the Chaos Realm.

"Then break through as soon as possible, and then take on missions to support me."

Yu Duan immediately sent Mohe to cultivate.

Once a Beast King breaks through to the God King realm, he can directly master the six branches and become a half-step God King at the second level.

Even without using the exclusive secret techniques of the Beast King, his powerful divine body makes him a dominant figure in the first level of the God King realm.

At that time, with Mohe's strength, the efficiency of taking on ordinary God King Level 1 missions and gaining merits will definitely be greatly improved.

"Next, I should start cultivating. I need to complete the first two body refinements of the Undying Golden Body Chaos Chapter."

While the requirements for comprehending the mysteries of the indestructible golden body are not high, they are not entirely nonexistent.

Yu Duan's initial understanding upon entering the Chaos Realm was limited to comprehending the first two body refinements within the Chaos Realm.

Too much knowledge to absorb, too little time for practice—this is a happy kind of trouble.

……

Time passed day by day. Since arriving in Xuandu, Yu Duan had never left seclusion, spending his time meditating and cultivating.

For Yu Duan at this stage, resources and inheritance are not lacking, only enough time for cultivation.

As for the guest minister missions, Di Xuanming also specifically focused on securing a few missions with relatively low difficulty and relatively high rewards.

However, Yu Duan never took action himself; he always left the problems to Mohe.

Even with Mohe's cultivation level, his basic attack is still much stronger than most peak Chaos Realm cultivators.

This made Di Xuanming look at Mohe with new respect, and he realized that Mohe, who seemed to be just an accomplice, also had extremely high potential and was close to transcending the Chaos Realm.

If he could obtain some Chaos Origin materials and powerful combat secrets, this Mohe Guest Elder might also have a chance to become a Chaos Realm Transcendent.

In the blink of an eye, about three centuries had passed.

"Boom!"

A series of booming sounds echoed within Yu Duan's body as countless chaotic materials were being melted and transformed into a golden liquid, which then merged into Yu Duan's divine body.

These golden liquids spread across all the particles at the ends, forming fine golden patterns.

As the final patterns intertwined to form a complete secret pattern, Yu Duan's entire body suddenly shone brightly.

Five layers of golden runes lit up on Duan's body, overlapping each other, dazzling and difficult to discern.

In an instant, Yu Duan seemed to transform into a radiant golden figure, shining brightly, like a golden sun in human form.

"My pre-cooling bar is almost full, and I'll be ready to face the Boundless Origin Great Dao one more time."

"By then, my understanding will reach the middle level of the Chaos Realm, and I will also be able to master the second form of the Boundless Chaos Body."

As early as after Yu Duan completed the first level of the Boundless Chaos Body, his physical strength was comparable to that of an ordinary God King.

Now that he has completed the first five body refinements of the Indestructible Golden Body, his divine power and the strength of his divine body have been significantly improved. With his divine body alone, he is able to suppress more than half of the ordinary god kings.

After gaining further insights, Yu Duan can then try to kill some powerful individuals who have just entered the God King realm.

Completely annihilating them is probably hopeless, but forcing them to reincarnate is still quite achievable.

Yu Duan glanced at the progress bar; there were still about 1,300 epochs to go.

"Let it settle down for a while longer."

Yu Duan continued to study the four main cultivation techniques, including the Nine Swords of Simplified and Traditional Chinese and the Boundless Chaos Body, and sorted out his own understanding of the Boundless Origin Great Dao.

After advancing to the Chaos Realm, Yu Duan's one day of cultivation was roughly equivalent to several hundred or even a thousand days during his Eternal True God era.

This efficiency is not fixed; it mainly depends on Yu Duan's state of understanding.

As the progress bar gradually increased, when only a thousand years remained, Yu Duan directly activated the Boundless Eye, once again facing the vast Boundless Origin Great Dao.

"Boom!"

At this moment, his spiritual will soared and shone brightly, and endless dazzling spiritual radiance spread from Yu Duan's body, forming countless feathers of light that transformed the entire secluded meditation room into a divine realm.

A wealth of insights surged into Yu Duan's mind, and countless chaotic law runes materialized, beginning to permeate his body.

The golden runes split, evolved, and extended infinitely... mimicking a fraction of the profound mystery of the boundless primordial Dao.

In the blink of an eye, nearly a hundred days have passed.

As the Book of Cause and Effect cools down, a stirring sensation from the level of the mind and will will awaken Yu Duan from his state of facing the fundamental Dao.

"I'm almost at my limit. Without the will of a god-king, my limit is that I can comprehend continuously for over a hundred days."

Without the slightest hesitation, Yu Duan immediately made the advance payment.

[Boundless Chaos Body: First Peak Level, capable of gaining insights into the second peak level in advance, requires 267 epochs of studying the Boundless Origin Great Dao.]

The 200+ epochs mentioned here are calculated based on Yu Duan's comprehension efficiency in the Chaos Realm.

To improve efficiency, one must acquire various treasures or activate the Boundless Eye to directly confront the complete and fundamental Dao.

"Boom!"

In an instant, Yu Duan's consciousness was once again immersed in the endless evolution of the Great Dao.

Within the realm of imagination, countless years pass, while in the outside world, it is but a fleeting moment.

(End of this chapter)