Swallowing the Stars, Hu Yanbo's Pre-Godhood

Hu Yanbo calmly analyzed his own advantages: "Ordinary newly appointed kings have not yet mastered the art of teleportation."

"On the contrary, I possess teleportation abilities, allowing me to attack or defend at will, giving me an innate advantage!"

"My 'Lotus of the Void' strikes directly at the soul's essence, ignoring its material defenses and divine body strength. Whether its divine body is several meters or tens of meters tall, as long as its soul cannot withstand it, it will perish!"

"The only thing to be wary of is its divine body self-destructing when it's cornered... But as long as we maintain distance, use teleportation to maneuver around it, and continuously wear down its soul, we can completely annihilate its soul core before it even realizes it!"

Upon thinking of this, a glint of light flashed in Huyanbo's eyes.

"It's feasible! We can completely manipulate them!"

This powerful confidence and near-perfect tactical simulation ignited Hu Yanbo's fighting spirit to its peak.

He had even begun to mentally simulate scenarios of fighting against various types of beginner-level kings.

......

Several days later, the Meteorite Star's detectors captured a powerful energy fluctuation, the intensity of which was astonishingly high, reaching the initial stage of the King-level!

"Boss, target locked! Thirty million kilometers to the northwest, a demon king at the initial stage of immortality is collecting 'ghost crystals'." Babata's voice carried a hint of excitement.

A glint of light flashed in Huyanbo's eyes: "We've finally waited for this!"

Without hesitation, he put away the spaceship, communicated with the spatial fluctuations in the distance, and teleported in small areas several times in succession, silently arriving at the target airspace.

In the distance, amidst a cluster of shattered crystals, a demon immortal, nearly a thousand meters long, resembling a giant crocodile and covered in thick, dark blue-green scales, was carefully peeling away a huge, dark purple crystal with its sharp claws.

Its aura was violent and ferocious, undoubtedly that of a newly appointed king!

"It's you!" Hu Yanbo's eyes were cold. He didn't launch a sneak attack, but instead appeared directly, his powerful aura instantly locking onto his opponent.

The demon king—the Azure Crocodile King—suddenly looked up, a flicker of surprise crossing his vertical pupils, which quickly turned into fury: "A human king? How dare you disturb my gathering of crystals! You're courting death!"

It did not recognize Huyanbo, but only thought he was an ordinary human king who had come to compete for resources.

Hu Yanbo didn't say much, and immediately launched a killing move!

"The Lotus of the Void, bloom!"

A black lotus flower, its edges shimmering with an illusory black light and emanating an aura that made one's soul tremble, appeared silently above the Azure Crocodile King's head and bloomed instantly!

hum!

The Green Crocodile King's massive body stiffened abruptly, letting out a roar of pain mixed with shock and rage!

It felt as if its immortal soul had been scraped by countless fine, cold blades, and its soul essence dimmed instantly!

"A soul attack?! What a bizarre method!" The Green Crocodile King was shocked and instantly realized that the opponent was no ordinary king.

It frantically burned its divine power to stabilize its soul, and its enormous tail tore through the void, lashing out at Huyanbo with the power to crush stars!

Hu Yanbo's figure blurred as he easily teleported away, appearing on the other side.

"As expected, the soul resistance and divine body strength of a beginner-level King are far superior to those of a Marquis." He understood that although the Lotus of the Void could attack the essence of the opponent, it could not kill them in one blow like it could kill a Marquis.

But he wasn't in a hurry; the tactics were already clear.

"Let's see how long you can last!" Hu Yanbo said indifferently, casting "Lotus of the Void" once again.

boom!

boom!

Just as the black lotus bloomed again before the Azure Crocodile King.

A bounty notice for the Mysterious Realm of the Ghostly Mantis, received a hundred years ago, flashed through the Green Crocodile King's mind like lightning!

The characteristics described in the announcement, such as "a lotus-shaped soul attack" and "suspected newly crowned human king," perfectly matched the methods and aura of the enemy before them!

Deep within the Green Crocodile King's enormous vertical pupils, a fleeting look of disbelief, horror, and ecstasy flashed, but it was instantly overshadowed by even deeper pain and rage!

It showed no outward abnormality, still appearing as if it were being tormented by the soul attack, roaring madly and struggling desperately.

But beneath this perfect disguise, it hurriedly spun a sliver of its consciousness to connect to the communication network.

"Target spotted! Coordinates (XXX, YYY)! Confirmed to be the human targeted by the Mantis King's bounty! Requesting backup! Immediately!!!"

The confirmation message arrived instantly that the message had been successfully sent!

The Blue Crocodile King felt much more confident, and its attacks became even more ferocious, its roars growing increasingly furious, perfectly concealing the fact that it had already called for help.

Its only thought at this moment was to entangle this human at all costs. As long as he didn't die, the Mantis King had promised to help him restore his divine body and give him a bounty of 3 billion Ancient Wilderness Units (roughly 1.5:1 compared to the Mixed Yuan Units of the human race)!

This astonishing wealth surpasses all the wealth it has accumulated over its long history!

Driven by intense greed and the instinct for survival, the Green Crocodile King made the most correct yet most insane decision—to stop trying to attack and instead use all his divine power for defense and evasion!

"Roar!" It let out a deafening roar, and the dark light of its scales surged, with layers of thick divine power shields unfolding!

At the same time, the Green Crocodile King's massive body moved with an agility disproportionate to its size, frantically twisting and turning in the starry sky, constantly widening the distance between itself and Hu Yanbo, and trying its best to avoid that deadly black lotus flower!

The Green Crocodile King's tactical intention was crystal clear: not to win, but to survive!

Use every means to buy time and turn this battle into a chase and a war of attrition!

Every extra second we hold on increases our chances of the Mantis King arriving!

After all, since the King of Blades was willing to offer an exorbitant reward and even promised to personally help him restore his divine body, he would definitely come as quickly as possible!

"What can a dying struggle change?" Hu Yanbo watched as the Green Crocodile King retreated and fled.

His figure flashed continuously in the air, teleporting closer, and the "Lotus of the Void" in his hand repeatedly slammed into the constantly dodging Green Crocodile King.

Although each attack could annihilate a portion of the opponent's soul essence, the Green Crocodile King's all-out defense and evasion did indeed greatly slow down its demise.

The battlefield transformed from a fixed airspace into a war of attrition involving constant pursuit and movement across the vast expanse of space.

Time became the key factor in the game between the two sides at this moment.

The Green Crocodile King is risking his life, betting that the Mantis King will arrive first!

Faced with a terrifying opponent who possesses teleportation abilities, whose attacks target the very essence of the soul, and whose strength far surpasses one's own, escape is a pipe dream, and a head-on confrontation is certain death.

Its only chance of survival is to turn this seemingly hopeless situation into a gamble with a slim chance of survival!

Hu Yanbo, on the other hand, wanted to use his absolute strength to completely kill a newly appointed King-level expert.

However, the Crocodile King's desperate delaying tactics ultimately bought him a precious moment of respite before the deadly attack arrived.

Just as Huyanbo teleported once more, about to completely block all of the Green Crocodile King's escape routes and deliver a fatal blow—

Buzz!

An incredibly powerful and vast pressure, as heavy as countless stars, suddenly descended upon this world without warning!

The space was completely frozen in an instant!

Huyan Bo's teleportation... failed!

The next moment, in the void between him and the Green Crocodile King, space shattered silently and smoothly, like a fragile mirror.

A figure nearly three meters tall, covered in dark gold, fine scales, resembling a mantis standing upright, slowly emerged from the shattered void, followed by a dark green figure that also appeared quietly.

The mantis-like creature's compound eyes coldly swept across the scene, finally settling on Huyan Bo. A chilling voice, seemingly originating from the depths of hell, pierced directly into his soul:

"Humanity's King... We've found you."