Swallowing the Stars: Becoming a God Starting with a Hundred Generations of Talent

Chapter 121 The Silent Courtyard: Target Selection [Nine Updates]

for a long time.

The old marquis slowly recovered from the enormous shock.

"Su Chen".

The old marquis spoke, his voice slightly hoarse.

"Whatever you want to ask, I'll answer it to the best of my knowledge."

Luo Yun sheathed his sword, but he still had the same question.

"I want more Blood Crystals."

Upon hearing this, the old Marquis remained silent for a moment.

He thought for a moment and gave the safest suggestion: "Perhaps you could consider joining the temple. With your talent, once you join the temple, your chances of obtaining the Blood Crystal will be greater than anyone else's."

Luo Yun shook his head.

"I don't want to join yet," he replied directly. "I don't want to be tied down."

He added a sentence.

"I'll consider it later."

The old Marquis nodded; he understood what Luo Yun meant.

He stopped trying to persuade him, pondered for a few seconds, and seemed to have made an important decision.

He didn't reiterate the well-known, vague information about other lord families possibly possessing Blood Crystals, but instead gave Luo Yun a deep look.

"The obvious path is too slow and too troublesome for you," the old Marquis said slowly. "I'll show you a hidden path."

As he spoke, he flipped his hand and took out something.

It was a token, completely black, made of some unknown metal, and icy cold to the touch, as if it could suck away the warmth of one's soul.

On the front of the token is a lifelike crescent moon, its crimson color so vivid it seems as if it might drip blood at any moment.

"What is this?" Luo Yun asked, sensing the subtle energy fluctuations emanating from the token.

"A pass." The old marquis's gaze became complex, tinged with a mixture of reminiscence and apprehension. "A pass to the Silent Court, a shadow organization that permeates the entire Bloodlust Continent and even the temples find troublesome."

"Assassins, intelligence, any shady deal—the Silent Court can satisfy your needs, as long as you can afford it."

The old Marquis handed the token to Luo Yun.

"A long time ago, before I became the Marquis of Zhenhai, I also walked through it for a period of time." He chuckled self-deprecatingly. "This token represents my past identity. Code name—Listening to the Tide."

Luo Yun accepted the token, a slight thought stirring within him.

He never expected that the old marquis had such a past.

This is far more useful in certain situations than the public title of "Marquis of Zhenhai".

"The Silent Court doesn't recognize people, only tokens and codes." The old lord solemnly instructed, "With this, you can activate any secret outpost in a major city and post your needs. Whether it's buying intelligence, or—"

"Thank you, Lord Marquis."

Luo Yun nodded and put away the cold "Listening to the Tide" token.

He remembered this favor.

He knew very well that the Blood Luo World was a place of constant killing and conquest.

Chaos means opportunity.

With the "Silent Courtyard" storyline, his efficiency in acquiring Blood Crystals will be greatly improved.

As long as you don't provoke those domain lords who have direct ties to the temple, the probability of death is very small.

Moreover, even if a world lord-level expert were to intervene, it wouldn't be a big deal.

They have their own trump cards.

"My 'See Hand Blue' is already a plant life form at the World Lord level." Luo Yun's thoughts raced.

The current height of the Bodhi tree is a full two thousand kilometers, and the diameter of its huge canopy is five hundred kilometers.

Its toxins have a range of up to an astonishing two thousand kilometers.

The range of the illusions created reached 10,000 kilometers!

"If an ordinary realm lord came, he would definitely be doomed."

"Even against a peak world lord who has been recognized by the fundamental laws, Jian Shou-Qing is enough to hold him off, allowing me to escape at will."

Luo Yun had absolute confidence in his safety.

Unless, of course, they encountered an immortal god.

Otherwise, in this Blood Luo world, he could practically do whatever he wanted.

Now, with the new identity of "Listening to the Tide," he will be able to delve deeper into the undercurrents of this continent to seize everything he desires.

The following day, Luo Yun left the Zhenhai Marquis's residence.

He didn't alert anyone and concealed his face and presence.

Following the old lord's directions, he walked through several bustling streets and finally arrived at a noisy area.

This is the western district of Pinghu's inner city, a gathering place for craftsmen, where the air is perpetually filled with the smell of burning iron filings.

Luo Yun's target was an inconspicuous blacksmith shop.

"Ding! Ding! Dong! Dong!"

Inside the blacksmith's shop, the harsh sounds of hammering filled the air, the furnace glowed red-hot, and waves of heat rolled in.

A shirtless, muscular, one-eyed old blacksmith was swinging a sledgehammer, hammering a red-hot iron blank, sparks flying everywhere.

Luo Yun walked into the blacksmith shop.

He didn't speak, but just stood quietly to the side.

The one-eyed old blacksmith seemed not to see him, continuing to hammer away with great force.

He didn't stop until he had hammered the iron billet into shape. He picked up the water ladle next to him and gulped down several mouthfuls of water.

"If you want to buy weapons, they're on the shelf," the old blacksmith said in a hoarse voice, without turning his head.

"I'm not buying weapons," Luo Yun said calmly. "I'm here to fix things."

The old blacksmith paused slightly in his movements.

He slowly turned around, his single eye sharp as a hawk's, and looked Luo Yun up and down.

"Repair what?"

"The tide has receded," Luo Yun said calmly. "The moon is waning."

The old blacksmith's pupils suddenly contracted.

His expression remained unchanged; he simply placed the sledgehammer in his hand onto the forging table.

"Come with me."

He uttered three words and then turned and walked towards the backyard of the blacksmith's shop.

Luo Yun followed.

The backyard was piled with all sorts of scrap iron and firewood, looking messy and disorganized.

The old blacksmith walked to a seemingly ordinary stone wall, reached out and tapped nine times on an inconspicuous brick in a specific rhythm.

"Snap—"

With a soft click, the stone wall slowly slid to one side, revealing a dark passage just wide enough for one person to pass through.

"Go inside." After saying that, the old blacksmith ignored Luo Yun, turned around and went back to the front yard to continue forging.

Without the slightest hesitation, Luo Yun stepped into the dark passage.

After he entered, the stone door closed silently again.

The passage was long, extending downwards, and every ten meters along the surrounding walls was a luminous pearl that emitted a faint glow.

After walking about a hundred meters, the view suddenly opened up before us.

This is a huge underground space, entirely constructed of black rock, with a sinister and oppressive atmosphere.

Inside the hall, several figures were moving about. They were all dressed in the same black robes and wore bronze masks without any patterns on their faces. They did not communicate with each other.

Luo Yun's appearance went unnoticed by anyone.

He walked straight to a counter at the far end of the hall.

Behind the counter sat another person wearing a bronze mask.

Luo Yun gently placed the black token engraved with a blood-red crescent moon on the counter.

The masked man glanced at the token, then looked up and asked in a hoarse voice, "Tingchao, is there anything you need?"

"I need intelligence," Luo Yun said, "detailed information on all lord-level or higher forces within the three hundred territories surrounding Pinghu Territory."

The masked man paused for a moment.

"The scope is too broad, and the amount of information is too large," he said. "It will require one million Purple Knife Coins."

Luo Yun didn't haggle; he simply took out a spatial ring and pushed it over.

The masked man took the ring, scanned it with his mental power, and confirmed the amount inside.

He nodded and took out a black crystal ball from under the counter.

"The intelligence is all inside. The third quiet room on the left can be used for free for one day."

Luo Yun picked up the crystal ball and turned to walk towards the row of stone doors on the left.

He pushed open the third stone door and went inside.

The stone gate closed automatically.

The room was small, containing only a stone table and a stone chair; otherwise, it was empty.

Luo Yun sat down on the stone chair and placed the black crystal ball on the table.

His mental energy slowly probed into it.

boom!

In an instant, a vast and boundless amount of information, like an ocean, flooded into his mind.

Three hundred territories, thousands of lord-level forces, and tens of thousands of lord-level powerhouses —

The history of every faction, the life, personality, unique skills, and enemies of every powerful figure —

Even some of the little-known secrets of their family were recorded in great detail.

The level of detail in this intelligence startled Luo Yun.

"This Silent Courtyard is indeed extraordinary."

He composed himself, stopped sighing, and began to quickly sift through and analyze the massive amount of intelligence.

His brain was working at lightning speed, like a highly sophisticated supercomputer.

Information on one faction after another flashed through his mind.

"The Blackrock Lord is powerful and has the backing of a temple; eliminate him."

"The Ke family of Fengxue City are cautious and reclusive, making it difficult to find an opportunity to strike. They can be ruled out."

"The Crimson Blood Brothers, lord-level powerhouses, are notorious for their burning, killing, and looting, but their whereabouts are unpredictable—they could be considered as potential targets."

Luo Yun's goal is very clear.

He was looking for lord-level powerhouses who possessed Blood Crystals, were relatively weak, or had obvious weaknesses that would make it easier for him to target them.