Swallowed Star 2: Origin Continent

Chapter 149 – Ranking and Punishment

The Ancient Flame Kingdom, the border city ‘Xiangjie City,’ was as bustling as ever, with countless cultivators going about their normal lives.

In the underground palace of the Town Guard’s residence.

Luo Feng sat cross-legged in the grand hall, with a full fifty billion Black Rivers forming the ‘Black River World,’ suppressing the entrance to the world. The Primordial Bloodline creatures had long since left.

“I face the Origin Path of Life directly. The deeper my comprehension, the more I vaguely sense that all life will ultimately head toward destruction. So… even this gigantic cage governed by the supreme laws will eventually face great destruction.” Luo Feng smiled.

Upon learning this secret, Luo Feng was completely unfazed.

Back on Earth, when he was still weak, people would grow old, get sick, and die, with many living no more than a hundred years.

And what about him?

He had grown all the way to this point and had even experienced the cycle of the Primal Universe! The destruction of the entire Origin World was still countless reincarnation eras away from the present.

“To live until the entire Origin World is destroyed would be something to be proud of. What’s there to be unwilling about?” Luo Feng had long been very content, enjoying every day of his cultivation.

Cultivation was never about that final moment.

It was about every single moment during the journey!

As he delved into the essence of how the world operated, he was also enhancing the essence of his own life. This process itself was filled with endless joy.

…

Time passed, and the one epoch of the Heavenly-Level mission was about to come to an end.

Luo Feng had left one of his incarnations on the Blood Spirit Star, this incarnation carrying as many as thirty billion Black Rivers. Luo Feng was worried that while he was responsible for suppressing the world’s entrance, someone might take the opportunity to seize the Blood Spirit Gold Pearls. Thirty billion Black Rivers were enough to make any Chaos Realm Transcendent give up.

The Blood Spirit Star indeed went through its third eruption! During the eruption, Luo Feng used the Black River World to envelop the entire Blood Spirit Star, and this time he obtained a total of 53 Blood Spirit Gold Pearls.

In Chu Capital, inside Luo Feng’s mansion.

“Brother Luo He, today is the last day of the Heavenly-Level mission, and the rankings are about to be announced,” Di Chu Yu sat across from Luo Feng, very nervous. After all, the resources from the Heavenly-Level mission were extremely important to him.

“Don’t worry, we’ve already done our best. Getting anxious now won’t change the rankings.” Luo Feng leisurely drank his wine.

“For the Blood Spirit Gold Pearl mission, I am undoubtedly the first, and I’m far ahead.” Di Chu Yu looked at Luo Feng. “This time, during the third eruption of the Blood Spirit Star, the other First-Class Marquises all wanted to buy those Blood Spirit Gold Pearls, but you didn’t sell a single one. They might hold grudges.”

Luo Feng continued pouring wine and laughed, “Would I care about them?”

Di Chu Yu also laughed.

He knew the strength of his friend! Even among those in the Divine King First Stage Realm on the Origin Continent, Luo He was considered one of the strongest.

As for the First-Class Marquises of the royal family? There were nearly a hundred of them across the thirteen royal branches!

“This time, there were three sub-missions in the Heavenly-Level mission. I placed third in one of my individual sub-missions and fourth in the other.” Di Chu Yu said, “And for the sub-mission you helped with, it’s an absolute first place.”

“I wonder what the overall ranking will be,” Di Chu Yu pondered.

“I heard Marquis Chu Ying ranked first in both of his sub-missions?” Luo Feng asked.

“Yes.”

Di Chu Yu nodded, “Marquis Chu Ying didn’t rely on any external items, just like you, Brother Luo He, focusing on comprehending the Dao. His performance in both sub-missions was outstanding. He will probably be the next Divine King of the royal family from our Emperor Chu lineage.”

Luo Feng nodded. Even Emperor Qing had praised Marquis Chu Ying, showing his immense potential.

“Of course, in terms of potential, he’s far behind you, Brother Luo He.” Di Chu Yu sighed. “Brother Luo He, you are acknowledged across all factions of the Origin Continent as the number one Chaos Realm Transcendent. It won’t be long before you become a Divine King.”

Marquis Chu Ying’s potential was excellent within the royal family.

But Luo Feng was unrivaled among all Chaos Realm transcendents.

“Becoming a Divine King isn’t that easy.” Luo Feng shook his head. He had comprehended three branches of the Origin Path of Life and two branches of the Origin Path of Destruction. Even with the help of the Primordial Crystal Spirit Fruit and having cultivated some secret techniques, he still hadn’t made the breakthrough.

Time slowly passed.

It wasn’t just the Emperor Chu lineage. The entire royal family of the Ancient Flame Kingdom’s thirteen branches, along with all the First-Class Marquises, were awaiting the rankings of the Heavenly-Level mission.

At a certain moment—

The rankings of the Heavenly-Level mission were simultaneously announced by the thirteen branches of the royal family of the Ancient Flame Kingdom.

“They’re out, the rankings are out.” All sides were eagerly watching for the results.

…

In Chu Capital.

“Two Realms Palace, what a bunch of failures!” Marquis Chu Chang looked at the final rankings. Among the seven First-Class Marquises from the Emperor Chu lineage, Marquis Chu Chang ranked fourth.

If he had made it into the top three, the resource distribution would have been much better.

The resources for fourth place were significantly reduced.

“My individual missions, one was fourth, and one was fifth. The Blood Spirit Gold Pearl mission was third.” Marquis Chu Chang shook his head. He was mediocre, and Two Realms Palace had chosen him because of that.

Since he had no confidence in himself, he was willing to allocate a good amount of resources.

“Not making it into the top three means I don’t have to share with Two Realms Palace,” Marquis Chu Chang snorted to himself, cursing Two Realms Palace for their incompetence, while also feeling like he had made a profit.

…

In Luo Feng’s mansion.

Di Chu Yu and Luo Feng waited together for the final ranking.

“Second!” Di Chu Yu was so excited that he dropped his wine cup. He looked at Luo Feng in disbelief, “I’m ranked second! A newly promoted First-Class Marquis like me ranked second!”

“Marquis Chu Ying is first?” Luo Feng asked.

“Yes, he’s first, and I’m second.” Di Chu Yu was thrilled. “Marquis Chu Feng is third, Marquis Chu Chang is fourth, Marquis Chu Ji is fifth, Marquis Chu Lin is sixth, and Marquis Chu Yuan is seventh.”

Luo Feng nodded, as this was as expected.

Marquis Chu Ying ranked first in both individual sub-missions, and second in the Blood Spirit Gold Pearl mission.

Di Chu Yu placed third and fourth in his individual sub-missions, but was an absolute first in the Blood Spirit Gold Pearl mission.

Marquis Chu Feng ranked second and third in his individual sub-missions, while Lord Yuanxiu handled the Blood Spirit Gold Pearl mission, placing fourth.

These were the top three.

At the bottom was Marquis Chu Yuan, who, due to cultivating the Primordial Bloodline, ranked seventh in both individual missions that tested potential and comprehension. He scored zero in the Blood Spirit Gold Pearl mission and remained at the bottom.

In the Ancient Flame Kingdom, Chaos Realm transcendents were generally forbidden from cultivating the Primordial Bloodline. Even Divine Kings rarely practiced it. One had to pass numerous tests before being qualified to cultivate, and the threshold was extremely high.

Because of this high threshold, cultivation was done very cautiously. In the Ancient Flame Kingdom, no one who cultivated the Primordial Bloodline had ever lost control.

This was one of the differences between the two great ancient kingdoms.

The Ancient Flame Kingdom had always been cautious about the Primordial Bloodline, and cultivation was very careful. Even the current emperor, Di Fu, who had become emperor by relying on the Primordial Bloodline, eventually chose to reincarnate and abandon that path, opting to become emperor again through formation techniques without using any external power.

This cautious attitude from the high-ranking members showed their wariness of the Primordial Bloodline.

In contrast, the Ancient Thunder Kingdom fully embraced the Primordial Bloodline. Chaos Realm transcendents could begin cultivation, and Divine Kings could go even deeper into it! Zuo Shan Ke joined the Ancient Thunder Kingdom because its threshold for practicing the Primordial Bloodline was very low.

“Brother Luo He, I’m heading back now.” Di Chu Yu stood up. “Soon I’ll need to go to Emperor Chu Palace to claim my resources.”

“Go ahead.” Luo Feng smiled.

Di Chu Yu immediately departed.

******

In a vast world.

A figure sat cross-legged on the ground, with immense and intricate arrays operating throughout the entire world. Numerous formations were seamlessly connected.

“With the ‘Myriad Formations Diagram’ and the ‘Eight Volumes of the Primordial Space’s Residual Arrays’ as the foundation, can I go further?” This figure pondered, when suddenly a thought was transmitted through a distant causal link.

“Di Fu!” A domineering and unrestrained voice sounded—it was the first emperor of the Ancient Flame Kingdom, Emperor Yan.

“Brother Emperor Yan, what’s the matter?” Di Fu asked.

“Guarding the border city ‘Xiangjie City’ has always been a task for my Emperor Yan lineage. I initially assigned Yan Su to guard Xiangjie City, and Yan Su has done so flawlessly until now,” Emperor Yan’s voice said,

“But not long ago, that Luo He directly attacked the border city and killed all of Yan Su’s incarnations within the city! He even incited a rebellion of the Primordial Bloodline creatures.”

“Brother Emperor Yan, this has always been a task for your Emperor Yan lineage,” Di Fu laughed, “I assumed you had discussed this with Emperor Chu.”

“The entire royal family was busy with the Heavenly-Level mission before. Now that the dust has settled, I’m dealing with this matter,” Emperor Yan said. “I believe that attacking the border city of Xiangjie City requires severe punishment. After all, the world it guards is one that the Ancestor personally created—it’s the Ancestor’s painstaking effort.”

“I agree, he should be punished severely.” Di Fu said.

“This Luo He has many incarnations, so an ordinary punishment won’t have any impact on him. It wouldn’t serve as an effective deterrent,” Emperor Yan said. “I think assigning him to guard the ‘Molten Old Demon’ would be more appropriate.”

Di Fu frowned.

The Molten Old Demon was one of the most powerful God King-level Primordial Bloodline creatures bred by the Flame Wind Ancestor, so strong that its power rivaled that of the emperors, which was why it had been locked up.

In terms of its Primordial Bloodline, this Molten Old Demon was even more powerful than the emperors, with an extremely strong contaminating nature.

“Guarding the Molten Old Demon, with Luo He’s strength, he could easily become contaminated.” Di Fu said.

“The place where it is imprisoned is very secure,” Emperor Yan said.

“Brother Emperor Yan, I won’t hide it from you! Half an epoch ago… Emperor Chu spoke to me about this,” Di Fu said. “He told me that his direct disciple Luo He had made a mistake, and he accepted that. However, any punishment must follow the laws of the Ancient Flame Kingdom! If the punishment exceeds what is within the legal bounds, he will resist it! He might even take this matter to the Ancestor himself!”

“Resist the punishment?” Emperor Yan was somewhat shocked.

Emperors had the right to resist punishment.

If the current emperor made excessively harsh decisions, the other emperors could resist! They could even appeal directly to the Ancestor!

“To make such a big deal out of this, resist the punishment, and appeal to the Ancestor? Emperor Chu has always been reckless,” Emperor Yan said, somewhat frustrated.

Emperor Chu hadn’t cultivated the Primordial Bloodline. From a young age, he had been dominant and brash, extremely protective of his own, never caring about the bigger picture! He was always ready to cause a scene! It was precisely because of this nature that Emperor Chu had smoothly progressed in cultivating the Origin Path of Destruction.

“Emperor Chu made a valid point. Regardless of the situation, we must remain within the boundaries of the law,” Di Fu said. “Otherwise, if it escalates and reaches the Ancestor, it won’t look good for any of us.”

“So, what do you suggest as punishment?” Emperor Yan asked, feeling helpless.

Faced with someone ready to flip the table at any moment and even resist punishment, what could he do?

“Xiangjie City currently has no guarding general, so let’s punish Luo He by having him guard the city for one epoch,” Di Fu said. “He will guard for one thousand eras without receiving any merit.”

Guarding the border city was considered a difficult task, and the mission usually came with significant merit.

As punishment, naturally, that merit would be erased.

“Make it ten thousand eras.” Emperor Yan suggested.

“Alright, ten thousand eras,” Di Fu agreed.

…

In Chu Capital, Emperor Chu Palace.

Luo Feng arrived to see his master.

“Your punishment has been decided: to guard Xiangjie City for ten thousand eras.” Emperor Chu looked at Luo Feng. “Although the punishment is somewhat severe, it’s still within the legal range and is a normal penalty.”

Luo Feng nodded, “Thank you, Master.”

Since it was within the normal range of penalties, Luo Feng had no concerns.

“No need to thank me.” Emperor Chu said, “If you weren’t my disciple, Emperor Yan wouldn’t have targeted you, so this is my responsibility. If I couldn’t even protect my own disciple, wouldn’t that be a joke?”

“This is the formation talisman for the world entrance array in Xiangjie,” Emperor Chu waved his hand, and a golden talisman flew toward Luo Feng.

Luo Feng received the golden talisman and immediately absorbed two streams of information from it. One was the method for controlling the talisman, and the other was the method for controlling the formation of the entire Xiangjie City.

With clear methods provided, Luo Feng, at his level, could easily master it.

“With your strength and the support of the formation, guarding Xiangjie City will be easy,” Emperor Chu said. “The only issue is that you must guard it for ten thousand eras. This punishment was personally decided by Di Fu, so even if you become a Divine King, the duration won’t be shortened.”

“My incarnations are many, so I don’t mind,” Luo Feng replied.

Emperor Chu nodded with satisfaction, “Go on, then.”

Luo Feng respectfully took his leave.

…

The news of Luo Feng’s punishment to guard Xiangjie City for ten thousand eras quickly spread among the upper echelons of the Ancient Flame Kingdom, and many of the First-Class Marquises of the royal family soon learned about it.

“Brother Luo He.” Di Chu Yu felt extremely guilty. He had just claimed his resources from the Heavenly-Level mission at Emperor Chu Palace and immediately came to visit.

“It’s all because of my Blood Spirit Gold Pearl mission that Brother Luo He ended up in conflict with Yan Su, and now you’ve been punished to guard Xiangjie City for ten thousand eras.” Di Chu Yu looked at Luo Feng. Brother Luo He hadn’t taken any benefits from him for the Blood Spirit Gold Pearl mission, yet he was heavily punished. Naturally, Di Chu Yu felt very guilty.

Luo Feng shook his head, “Don’t worry about it! I couldn’t stand the grudge, so I took the initiative to storm Xiangjie City, destroyed several of Yan Su’s incarnations, and seized his Divine King weapon. That vented my anger.”

“No matter what, this all started because of me.” Di Chu Yu flipped his hand and took out a golden bottle. “This is a bottle of ‘Clear Mind Spiritual Liquid,’ which I obtained when collecting the resources from the Heavenly-Level mission. It’s beneficial for comprehending the Dao and strengthening the will.”

This bottle of ‘Clear Mind Spiritual Liquid’ was the most precious resource Di Chu Yu had received, worth nearly half of the total value of his collected resources.

Di Chu Yu felt that without Luo Feng’s help, he might not have even placed third. It was only right to offer his most valuable resource to his friend.

“Beneficial for comprehending the Dao and strengthening the will?” Luo Feng didn’t refuse and directly accepted it. “Thanks.”

“I should be thanking you, Brother Luo He.” Di Chu Yu laughed. “This time, the first-ranked resources are the most plentiful. I ranked second, so I received half as much as Marquis Chu Ying! But those ranked third only received thirty percent of what I did. The ones ranked lower received even less.”

That’s how the Ancient Flame Kingdom’s royal family worked—the better you performed, the more resources they invested in you.

“I’ll head back now. Getting second place has made me quite busy.” Di Chu Yu said.

Luo Feng nodded, watching him leave. Then, he looked at the bottle of ‘Clear Mind Spiritual Liquid’ in his hand. This was a treasure not listed in the Hall of Inheritance’s records. It was likely only available to the upper echelons of the royal family. In fact, even Di Chu Yu had only received this single bottle from the Heavenly-Level mission.

“Brother Chu Yu, we have many more days ahead of us.” Luo Feng murmured softly.

“Guard Xiangjie City for ten thousand eras? Even becoming a Divine King won’t shorten the punishment?” Luo Feng wasn’t bothered in the slightest. He had made a mistake, and he accepted the punishment.