Swallowed Star
chapter-1246

The pond water and endless ocean water were all suspended in midair.

Duan Dong River said with a solemn expression, “When one is weak, there is still room for improvement, as he can still work hard to cultivate and achieve breakthroughs one by one. But things are different when one gets stronger. Any superior great being has to go through countless battles and fights; this is the only way to train and hone skills. For example, to become a true god—or what you all would call a universe supreme master—you will have to go through countless killings to gain extensive experience before you can finally achieve a breakthrough.”

“When starting from the stage of a true god, to continue ascending, every step would entail great difficulty! Great beings are life forms who tread between life and death but eventually stand firm till the end.”

Luo Feng heard him and nodded.

He agreed with what Duan Dong River said. In fact, from his perspective, to become a universe supreme master, he had to achieve his breakthrough after experiencing battles and fights in which he could hone his skills and abilities. This was how Sitting Mountain Guest and Primal Chaos City Leader had felt in the past, when they sent him out to wander and venture, to steel himself for future breakthroughs.

Universe masters, universe supreme masters (true gods)… All had to tread the paths between life and death.

“There are many talented ones, and also many determined ones,” Duan Dong River said softly. “Perhaps for them, they could still make small achievements. But to truly stand on the highest peak, what great being could get there without the help of opportunities? It is impossible for a great being to solely depend on his own ability to make it to the pinnacle. The pulse of my Duan Dong River has three most important sets of lost knowledge… When you find yourself dealing with countless life and death battles, they will reduce your chances of being annihilated to the lowest possibility.

“Of course, even if you manage to escape annihilation, it does not mean that you are undying for sure. Generations of heirs from the pulse of my Duan Dong River died, one by one. Even our three generations of Ancestors are dead…” Duan Dong River shook his head. “Which is why one must never, ever take this lightly.”

Luo Feng nodded, then smiled. “The powerful beings we have in our current generation cannot hold a candle to that civilization, so all is fine.”

“It is not that simple.” Duan Dong River gently shook his head.

“Not that simple?” Luo Feng was taken aback. “What do you mean?”

“First, take a closer look at the three sets of lost knowledge you have obtained,” Duan Dong River said.

Luo Feng immediately started to look more thoroughly. As the three sets of lost knowledge each contained an unbelievable amount of information, the memory transmission alone took a long time. And the memory transmission was merely the process of shoving all the information into Luo Feng’s memory. Luo Feng still had to take much time to slowly read through them all.

With Luo Feng’s reading speed, even studying one set of lost knowledge, Duan Mie, took more than ten days before he finally registered a change in expression.

“Found it?” Duan Dong River’s expression was hard to read.

“How—how come it’s gone?” Luo Feng was shocked as he turned to look at Duan Dong River. “Duan Mie was left behind by three generations of ancestors. According to the introduction of the entire set of lost knowledge, it should be massive with a total of nine volumes. Why are there only the first three most basic volumes? What about the next six? I certainly detected those within my memory, but I just cannot read them. Why is this happening?”

It was a weird feeling It was like having a vague memory of a certain thing, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not fully recall it. All of the lost knowledge, Duan Mie, was in his memory; he could detect them within his memory, but he just could not recall the remaining six volumes.

This “forgotten” feeling came to him before when he was still young, back when his power was extremely weak, but since becoming a super great being, everything that he had gone through in his lifetime—every bit of memory—was easy to look back upon. Not the slightest bit was forgotten.

“It is because the first three volumes set the limit to where the true god stage can cultivate up to,” Duan Dong River said.

“The limit of the true god stage?” Luo Feng seemed to vaguely recall something.

“Three sets of lost knowledge, and these—” Duan Dong River pointed to the black stones at the bottom of the pond. “And those!” Then he pointed toward the scattered black stones in the vast ocean.

“All the information—even if you transmit all your memories, the most you can see would be the pinnacle of the true god stage,” Duan Dong River elaborated. “Various information from any level higher than this, you will not be able to view.”

“Why is this so?” Luo Feng was filled with doubts, but he was not bothered.

Being unable to read those was not a big deal to him. In any case, there were detailed records of the endless information within the inheritance stones from a normal undying to the pinnacle of a universe supreme master. For him, that was enough. After all, he was only a universe knight.

But he was certain that he had the memories in his mind. Who could have so wordlessly, and without a trace, prevented him from looking through his own memories?

“Because…” Duan Dong River’s gaze was adrift as he sighed softly. “That is the willpower of the primal universe!”

“Willpower of the primal universe?” Luo Feng was taken aback.

“That’s it!” Duan Dong River nodded with a sigh.

“The primal universe is the most massive celestial body in all of Universe Ocean. Given such an immense celestial body, every moment, the amount of chaotic energy it consumes is terrifying. Compared to it, the Universe Boast is simply…” Duan Dong River shook his head.

Luo Feng nodded. The Universe Boat might have been big, but if it was compared to the primal universe, it was like a paper boat compared to the sun!

“If you are living in the primal universe, then being a part of the primal universe will ensure that all is fine for you.” Duan Dong River nodded. “However, if you are no longer a member of the primal universe, the primal universe no longer protects you… That is where trouble arises.”

“In the Universe Ocean, who is the most powerful?”

“It is not a matter of who; it is the willpower of the primal universe!” Duan Dong River said. “Your powers are weak, but you all should be able to feel that. When you fight battles against true gods, the willpower of the primal universe will help you. No matter where you are within the Universe Ocean, it will help you all. The powers of the true gods will all be suppressed. All their godly powers will completely be suppressed by it.”

Luo Feng nodded. Yes. Indeed, it would. The willpower of the primal universe was such a massive thing that no one could put up a resistance against it. Teacher Origin had previously fought with the willpower of the origin, and as a result, he was eternally suppressed.

“The entire primal universe has it as its backing,” said Duan Dong River. “The power that the willpower of the origin can unleash is totally out of your wildest imaginations.” He snorted, “How do you think this Universe Boat ended up so battered and shattered—?”

Suddenly, Duan Dong River’s expression changed.

“I cannot say further.” Duan Dong River looked toward Luo Feng and added solemnly, “There are some things I cannot tell you. You just need to know that throughout the entire Universe Ocean, there is nowhere that the origin of the primal universe does not have control over. Fortunately, it is only a simple willpower that was formed by the massive universe law and does not have any desires. Otherwise, I have no idea what it would become.”

“If you want to transcend it, there is only one way.” Duan Dong River looked at Luo Feng. “Break through a reincarnation! Break through a reincarnation, and you will find yourself in a whole new setting. Information related to the pulse of my Duan Dong River is stored in those memory stones. For now, you can only see up to the true god stage, but the moment you make it through a reincarnation… you can see everything.”

Luo Feng gave a slight nod. Although Duan Dong River did not say much, Luo Feng vaguely realized that, in the beginning, when Duan Dong River and the numerous great beings of that civilization boarded the Universe Boat, there were implications related to the willpower of the primal universe. Thereafter, the destruction of the Universe Boat was likely due to the willpower of the primal universe.

“You and I are different,” said Duan Dong River. “You are a member of the primal universe. Or at least up until now, you still are.” He laughed. “This is why you are protected by it.”

Suddenly, Duan Dong River waved. The black stones scattered beneath the suspended, endless ocean waters, the wide ocean trenches, and the underground valleys—as well as those at the bottom of the pond before them—all flew up into the air and made their way to Duan Dong River.

Very quickly, Duan Dong River stored everything.

Hong! Long! Long!

With a rumble, the vast ocean water and pond water suspended high up in the sky fell.

“Follow me.” Duan Dong River pointed somewhere ahead. Before them, ripples started to form and gave rise to a space entrance.

Luo Feng followed obediently.

Both entered the space entrance one after the other and quickly arrived in a new space. It was a vast world with seemingly no boundaries to speak of. The surroundings were an endless darkness, and what they stood on was a piece of land with a diameter that was only as big as over ten kilometers.

“This is a space where time is accelerated.” Duan Dong River pointed far into the endless darkness. “This darkness seems to have no boundaries, but in truth, all of these are not real. This space for time acceleration is small. It only consists of this piece of land.”

“A smaller area will allow a smaller energy consumption when making use of time acceleration,” he added with a laugh. “I would have long ago been annihilated. My control alone can only bring time acceleration to 10,000 times. As for you, the stronger your godly power gets, the moment you start manipulating it, time acceleration will naturally get faster. Under the influence of time acceleration, you will be able to extend the time you need for cultivation.”

Duan Dong River waved, and a single black stone floated before Luo Feng.

“Actually, I have been lonely for countless reincarnation eras… I have so much to say, so much to entrust, and so many proud moments of the pulse of my Duan Dong River that I want to share with you.” Duan Dong River shook his head slowly. “However, when you received the three sets of lost knowledge, I suddenly realized that… I was actually annihilated long ago. What more can I not bear to part with? So I have recorded everything into this memory stone. It will tell you all I want you to know, and it records every single secret of the entire space of inheritance. After seeing it for yourself, you will understand everything.”

Duan Dong River looked up at the boundless darkness. Then, squatting down, he grabbed some mud from the ground and sniffed. He smiled and said, “I was dead long ago. What you see of me now is nothing more than an image of a virtual consciousness. Virtual. I am merely something virtual… I was never a life form in the first place…”

Hua!

Duan Dong River was shattered into bits and pieces. Then he vanished.

“Teacher! Duan Dong River!” Luo Feng shouted. But he was the only one left.

Luo Feng was in a daze.

This… This…

He was trapped in a place like this. How could he find the way out?

Hong!

Streams of light rays appeared amidst the vast darkness and speedily charged over to enshroud him. Luo Feng looked toward the sky where streaks of black and white light rays were falling upon him. There was nowhere to hide as they all gathered and approached Luo Feng. The imprint of inheritance between Luo Feng’s brows appeared automatically.

The imprint, which consisted of intertwining black and white lines, started to revolve. Endless light rays surged into Luo Feng’s body. Then peace and quiet were restored.

An incomparable sense of affinity grew in Luo Feng’s heart as he looked around him. With an intention in mind, a seedling suddenly emerged from the ground and started to grow. It grew lusher. More started to spread out. In a short moment, over ten kilometers of land had transformed into a meadow.

“Recognizing its master?” Luo Feng was taken aback.

The space of inheritance had recognized him as its master.

Although he still felt a little unfamiliar, he could sense the entire space of inheritance.

“Duan Dong River has voluntarily given up all his control rights?”

Luo Feng looked to his side, where Duan Dong River had been grabbing mud from the ground just moments ago. He recalled what Duan Dong River had said earlier. Suddenly, Luo Feng realized that Duan Dong River… might have disappeared for good.

In this Universe Ocean, only he, the 193rd generation of Duan Dong River, remained.