Swallowed Star

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Ah!”

Luo Feng grabbed onto the rocks with both hands. His entire body was trembling.

Involuntarily, he looked up. As though he was being forcibly branded with an imprint right in the middle of his brows, a black and white intersecting mark appeared, and a short while later, it was completely hidden and vanished from sight. It could no longer be observed.

Luo Feng could not control himself. His body continued to tremble. He opened his eyes and looked toward Duan Dong River, who stood beside him. “This—this is too agonizing.”

“This is the imprint that generations of Duan Dong River descendants had,” Duan Dong River said. “It is created by our third-generation ancestor, and every generation will inherit it; once inherited, it will be easy to conform to the entire space of inheritance! Being branded with the imprint is a must, as this is the only way to get the space of inheritance to recognize one as its master… and only those who have gained control over this space can receive the true inheritance of the pulse of my Duan Dong River.”

Luo Feng nodded.

The more unique a true treasure was, the more troublesome it was in getting it to recognize its master. Such situations were similar to getting Star Tower and the White Wings to recognize Luo Feng as their master, and this space of inheritance was a treasure that the pulse of Duan Dong River used to hand over its inheritance. It was more precious than a miniature universe and much more precious than any supreme true treasure. Thus, getting it to recognize its master—how complicated a process would that be? Only those branded with the imprint could attempt to get it to recognize them as its master.

“I might have been annihilated, but I left behind my virtual consciousness.” Duan Dong River looked toward Luo Feng. “With my actual thoughts, memories, and character as a template, I have created this consciousness. In this way, I could slowly wait for the next heir to come forth and receive the inheritance. I am able to leave behind this virtual consciousness. This is also a means achievable within this space of inheritance.” He laughed. “The space of inheritance has a wealth of functions. It is a treasure that three generations of ancestors specially created for our inheritance. Later on, you will find out more about every one of these functions.

“As my virtual consciousness is still in control over this space of inheritance, you are unable to get it to recognize you as its master for the time being. It is a must for me to give up control voluntarily to make it possible for you to get it to recognize its master. Before it recognizes you… you must do one thing.”

Duan Dong River looked at Luo Feng.

Luo Feng said with due respect, “Teacher, please guide me.”

“Take an oath,” Duan Dong River said sternly. “Repeat after me!”

Luo Feng nodded and listened intently.

Duan Dong River said slowly in a solemn tone, “I hereby take this oath, in the name of a newly appointed Duan Dong River, with the imprint of the inheritance as witness… I, Duan Dong River Luo Feng, will not allow the core inheritance of the pulse of Duan Dong River to fall in the hands of outsiders. If I should break my oath, then my soul shall be annihilated.”

“Must I?” Luo Feng looked at Duan Dong River.

“You must.” Duan Dong River nodded. “Otherwise, you shall be annihilated, and I shall have to choose another heir.”

Luo Feng nodded and repeated as instructed. “I hereby take this oath, in the name of a newly appointed Duan Dong River, with the imprint of the inheritance as witness… I, Duan Dong River Luo Feng, will not allow the core inheritance of the pulse of Duan Dong River to fall in the hands of outsiders. If I should break my oath, then my soul shall be annihilated.”

His voice echoed, in his ears and in his mind. The imprint between his brows lit up, and his words were transmitted in short bouts into the depths of his soul.

“If I should break my oath, then my soul shall be annihilated.”

“Then my soul shall be annihilated…”

“Then my soul shall be annihilated…”

These words reverberated persistently within his soul.

Luo Feng frowned, as he had doubts. Then he glanced at Duan Dong River standing beside him.

Duan Dong River nodded knowingly. “This imprint of the inheritance will stay with you for your lifetime. I know you are a universe knight. You are capable of resurrection. Yet, even upon rebirth, you will still carry on this imprint for eternity… If you break your vow, this imprint of the inheritance will annihilate your soul. Even if you were to be resurrected, you would face annihilation over again… The vicious cycle of resurrection and annihilation would replay over and over again.”

Luo Feng shuddered.

“Of course, so long as you do not let the core inheritance fall into the hands of outsiders, nothing will go wrong.” Duan Dong River nodded. “All right, before you get this space of inheritance to recognize you as its master, I shall tell you about some of the most important information and treasures. Follow me.”

Duan Dong River pointed far into the void space ahead, and a space door appeared.

Duan Dong River and Luo Feng flew right through that space door, one after the other.

******

All over, the place was filled with endless water. And right in the middle, there was a miniature island. On the island was an ordinary wooden house, and before the wooden house was a curved pond.

Duan Dong River landed beside the pond.

“This space is known to be one of the most important out of the various spaces found in the space of inheritance.” Duan Dong River pointed to a spot above the pond. “You see that? The three black stones suspended above the water’s surface?”

Luo Feng looked over. The pond was not big, yet the three, smooth, crystal-like black stones were suspended above it, floating persistently.

“This is called the Memory Stone, also known as the Inheritance Stone,” Duan Dong River said. “It can store a large quantity of memories. Even if a super great being has a large amount of memory to be stored, saving every bit of information will still be very easy.” He added solemnly, “These three stones… are said to be the root of the pulse of my Duan Dong River!”

“Root?” Luo Feng felt a jolt.

“Take a look inside the pond.” Duan Dong River said.

Then, with a wave of his hand—

Hua!

All the water in the pond flew up in an instant, revealing numerous black stones at the bottom of the pond. At first glance, Luo Feng thought there could be as many as hundreds of thousands of stones.

“Now, take a look at the vast ocean.” Duan Dong River waved his hand again.

Hong! Long! Long!

An immeasurable amount of water from the vast ocean surrounding the miniature island started to float with a rumble. It was as though there had been a reversal between heaven and earth, where all the ocean water floated up to the sky, leaving the earth below empty, thus revealing numerous ocean trenches and undersea valleys… With a single glance, given Luo Feng’s range of view, he caught occasional glimpses of black stones.

“All those are memory stones,” Duan Dong River told him. “These three are the roots. They make up the essence of the core inheritance! It is the noblest contribution that three generations of ancestors had left for the pulse of my Duan Dong River. In that pond, there is a total of 12,002 memory stones, and they all belong to the core inheritance.” Duan Dong River laughed. “However, these stones represent different kinds of memories related to fields of study: close combat, far-range attacks, refining treasures, automatons, and many more… They also contain techniques and methods of cultivation. Any given stone would be enough to drive everyone from Universe Ocean into a frenzy. Within that vast ocean, as many as hundreds of millions of memories stones were scattered about randomly.”

Duan Dong River laughed again. “Those were left behind by the great beings from the pulse of my Duan Dong River. As they roamed and wandered, they continuously gathered all kinds of information covering a comprehensive range of content, which they considered all-encompassing. As for information on the basic skills of my home civilization, I should think at least 90 percent are recorded. Of course, the records are very elementary. It is like receiving the basic inheritance; the idea is the same.”

Luo Feng was tingling with excitement.

A library! This was just like a super library—or, rather, “templates” left behind by that ancient civilization. By relying on the millions of memory stones in that vast ocean, it was possible to replicate the mid to low power range of that ancient civilization. (After all, the information was very basic.)

“These 12,002 memory stones,” Duan Dong River said, pointing to the bottom of the pond, “are the pride of generations of heirs. These were their hearts and souls! Of course, there were some gathered that also contain important information on cultivation, and these are priceless. Every memory stone is more than enough to set off a war.

“These three… are even more likely to set off a war among the superpowers in my home. Remember, all the information within these three and the 12,002 stones must not fall into the hands of outsiders.”

“Understood,” Luo Feng replied.

“Try using your godly power to enwrap these three memory stones,” Duan Dong River said. “You have the inheritance imprint. The three memory stones will acknowledge you and transfer all the inheritance they contain over to you.”

Luo Feng held his breath. The essence of the core inheritance… He stood at the apex of knowledge for which three generations of ancestors were most proud.

Sou! Sou! Sou!

Three invisible godly powers extended out to speedily envelop the three black stones, and the moment they came into contact, the three black stones started to radiate a faint glow. On the surface, ancient and complex engravings started to appear. Then an influx of information surged and charged its way into Luo Feng’s mind.

It was a tremendous amount of information!

Being transmitted to him in such an overwhelming amount… Even with Luo Feng’s speed of inheriting, the complete transmission took him one full day.

******

Duan Dong River stood aside and watched with a smile as Luo Feng opened a pair of eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

It was only three sets of lost knowledge! The core of the entire pulse of Duan Dong River—its true essence—was none other than these three sets of lost knowledge!

They were named Duan, Dong, and River.

Duan was the abbreviation for Duan Mie, which meant “annihilation.” It was a unique set of lost knowledge that could bring about an accelerated upsurge of all the power of a godly body or just a normal flesh-and-blood body within a short period of time! It could also cause the ability of a body to improve by hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of times in terms of strength… This set of lost knowledge, if simply put across, was somewhat similar to self-destruction, because self-destruction was the process of gathering all the energy within a body to bring about an outburst of power.

Normally, during self-destruction, two things would happen. One, the power of an attack would be scattered in all directions; two, once self-destruction was activated, the user would also be annihilated.

However, Duan Mie—the core inheritance created by three generations of ancestors—was entirely different. It allowed the great being to control the rate at which it was being burned! For instance, within three seconds, the entire godly body could be completely burned! The power was controllable; it could be brought to an outburst that was stronger than normal by innumerable times or could be controlled to last only for one fleeting second during a battle, or even controlled by bringing it to a complete halt instantly! Furthermore, during battles, the accuracy of the power could be controlled when attacking components. Duan allowed a great being to skip stages when using it to annihilate enemies. That was why this set of lost knowledge was formidable.

Dong was the abbreviated name for Dong Hua, which meant “East Brilliance” and was a set of lost knowledge on escaping. Once executed, a great being could transform into a stream of brilliance. The speed was unbelievably fast—so fast as to easily traverse layers of space. This was the most formidable escape technique of the pulse of Duan Dong River.

River was short for Undying River, which was a set of lost knowledge that taught the skill of becoming undying! Just like any flesh-and-blood life form, when they become undying fighters, universe knights, or universe masters, their godly bodies would be converted into a more intangible form of energy. And once they achieved their breakthrough to become universe supreme masters, they would, on the contrary, be reverted back to their origin!

When various identities combined as one, the more intangible godly body would take a more concrete form composed of flesh and blood.

This would be truly a flesh and blood life form!

Although part of a flesh and blood body could also be burned up and converted to energy like a godly body, ultimately, it was still a flesh and blood life form. Normally, annihilating a universe master or universe supreme master through soul attacks would deprive opponents any chances for resurrections, yet when relying on Undying River, the moment this knowledge had been cultivated to a certain degree, any great being would be able to isolate part of its divided body from its main body.

Also, another instance of utilizing this knowledge was hiding a mere drop of blood. Even if the divided body of a great being was hit by a soul attack and all of it was annihilated… after undergoing unique refining, this drop of blood of the annihilated body could remain unscathed. Thereafter, it could spend some time to speedily absorb energy and take up its original form again!

That would make an undying fighter!

******

Duan Mie allowed its user to achieve an outburst of extreme power when faced with opponents in battle. Dong Hua, used for escaping, was incomparably formidable. Even if there was no way to escape, one could always rely on Undying River to effect a resurrection!

The three sets of lost knowledge. Relying on these three sets of lost knowledge, every generation of Duan Dong River would only have one set of the three lost knowledges, yet every generation would see the emergence of one terrifying figure.

“Indeed, they are worthy to be called the lost knowledges of three generations of ancestors; indeed, they are worthy to be called the core of the core of the entire pulse of Duan Dong River; these are simply, certainly, extremely powerful.”

Luo Feng was tongue-tied. It was no wonder this was the most top-notch inheritance of that ancient civilization and only a favored elite could inherit it. It was more than enough to drive any great being mad with jealousy. No wonder East Emperor Holy Land and Purple Moon Holy Land coveted it. The two ancestors must have long ago heard of certain information regarding the inheritance of the pulse of Duan Dong River.