Seventeen Long Years (Part 1)

Jinlun God Lord bowed his head respectfully. "This Jiuyuan is from the Lingtong Race. He entered the outer battlefield five hundred epochs ago, and shortly after, he encountered some kind of opportunity that greatly increased his strength. Since then, he has remained on the outer battlefield."

"The Lingtong Race..."

Zhenxuan King, wearing a bronze mask, pondered for a moment, seemingly searching for information.

"Lingtong Race, Jiuyuan. Third battlefield, under the command of Fenglun King. His combat power has reached the level of a Marquis, yet he has not achieved an immortal body..."

Jinlun God Lord's pupils constricted, and he felt a secret shock. That Jiuyuan truly possessed Marquis-level strength; fortunately, he had been cautious.

Jinlun God Lord thought for a moment, then carefully added, "Jiuyuan seems to place great importance on the next peak genius competition. He has been absorbing young Stellar Level members from various branches and cultivating them meticulously. However, this generation of the Lingtong Race hasn't actually produced any geniuses. There is one little guy who possessed a domain while still at the Planetary Level, but with the genius competition approaching, that is too little, too late.

I previously speculated whether Jiuyuan had obtained a quota for the Youyuan Secret Realm and was trying to select a suitable candidate through the genius competition..."

Zhenxuan King shook his head slightly. "There is no Jiuyuan, nor anyone from the Lingtong Race, among the Youyuan Secret Realm quota rewards issued by the Xuanshang Universe Country Lord in recent sessions."

Jinlun God Lord's eyes lit up. "Your Highness, then my guess is likely correct. If it isn't a quota for the Youyuan Secret Realm, then it is very likely the Divine Envoy Inheritance.

Furthermore, the next time for that Divine Envoy Inheritance crystal is not far off; it might even be very close.

If the time until the next inheritance were too far away, unless Jiuyuan were blinded by greed and lost his mind, he would never risk hiding the Divine Envoy Inheritance crystal. It is not something he is qualified to keep; he would necessarily have to offload it as soon as possible.

If the time until the next inheritance is very close, then Jiuyuan has sufficient motive to try and hide the Divine Envoy Inheritance crystal for a period, waiting until someone within the Lingtong Race accepts the inheritance before offloading the crystal."

Zhenxuan King wore a bronze mask, making his expression unreadable, but he seemed to agree with Jinlun God Lord's speculation. "The rarity of a Divine Envoy Inheritance crystal varies within a race. If sold to the race, the value is roughly between 10 billion and 40 billion Hunyuan. If he tries to offload it himself, with such vast wealth, once word leaks out, a mere Marquis-level immortal would likely face no small amount of trouble.

As long as he is clear-headed, he should seek to use Fenglun King to offload the inheritance crystal... I checked, and within the last thousand epochs, no new Divine Envoy Inheritance crystals have appeared within the race, and Fenglun King has not had any large transactions within the Hong Alliance."

After hearing these words from Zhenxuan King, Jinlun God Lord struggled to suppress his greed. Ten billion Hunyuan! This was wealth that would make even a King-level powerhouse envious, let alone an immortal military lord like himself. If he could obtain such wealth, his strength would definitely reach a new level, and possessing Marquis-level combat power would be a simple matter.

Suppressing the agitation in his heart, the heavy stone in Jinlun God Lord's chest finally landed.

Although Zhenxuan King showed no change in expression beneath the bronze mask and his voice remained as cold as ever, the fact that he could say these words proved he was definitely tempted.

Jinlun God Lord came from a powerful race within the human collective, a race with a vast population distributed across several universe countries.

Being part of a powerful and populous race had both pros and cons for an individual. The downside for Jinlun God Lord was that even as an immortal, he was unremarkable within the race and carried no weight. Thus, when he made a mistake years ago, this branch distributed in the Xuanshang Universe Country expelled him from the race without hesitation.

At the same time, precisely because the race was so populous, it was difficult to have the cohesion found in smaller human races. After all, in terms of sheer numbers, the population of the race Jinlun God Lord came from was likely greater than the humans in half a universe country; the situation of "fellow countrymen meeting and shedding tears" was simply impossible.

The powerhouses within the race were also distributed among the five major forces and various universe countries, and some were even like enemies due to their different affiliations.

Therefore, even if Jinlun God Lord wanted to seek an audience with the higher-ups of his race in the Virtual Universe, he would need to report something of extreme importance.

However, among the more than thirty King-level immortals in the race, he had chosen this Zhenxuan King after careful consideration.

Beyond the fact that Zhenxuan King came from the same branch in the Xuanshang Universe Country, he also shared the closest blood relation to Jinlun God Lord.

More importantly, Zhenxuan King was a King-level Highness who had only recently been resurrected.

According to what he knew, Zhenxuan King was also a genius within the race back in the day, entering the core of the Giant Axe Coliseum with a first-place ranking in the 1008 Universe Country peak powerhouse competition. Upon becoming immortal, he was immediately a high-level Marquis, and after tens of thousands of epochs, he became a King.

Unexpectedly, he fell in battle, and all the treasures bestowed upon him by the race and the Giant Axe Coliseum were lost. He was only resurrected six hundred epochs ago.

Not only was his strength greatly diminished and his debts heavy, but his status within the race and the Giant Axe Coliseum had also declined.

Jinlun God Lord judged that this former genius of the race, now a "debt-ridden" newcomer, was definitely the one most in need of wealth to make a comeback.

The Divine Envoy Inheritance crystal itself could only be inherited by a World Lord, but its value was in the tens of billions of Hunyuan; even a King-level immortal would definitely be tempted.

Even if he didn't sell it, if Zhenxuan King presented the Divine Envoy Inheritance crystal to the race, it would be a major contribution, meaning the race could potentially produce a King-level limit powerhouse every epoch (only by fusing the inheritance crystal into the body to become a Divine Envoy could one possess King-level invincible strength comparable to an ordinary universe venerable, but they would be unable to pass it on; if one were only a Divine Envoy candidate, they would only count as a King-level limit).

This might not mean much to the human race as a whole, but for the race Zhenxuan King belonged to, it would have huge benefits, far exceeding the value of several tens of billions of Hunyuan.

If that Jiuyuan had brought this Divine Envoy Inheritance crystal into the light, or even let word spread that he possessed it, Zhenxuan King would not dare to do anything even if he were tempted. After all, the human race was governed by the five major forces; there were rules and order.

But since Jiuyuan was willing to risk hiding the news of the Divine Envoy Inheritance crystal, wanting to let a Lingtong tribesman accept the inheritance, then if "risk" came knocking at his door, he would have no one to blame but himself.

Zhenxuan King was silent for a while, seemingly checking information. "Jiuyuan is currently still on the third battlefield, on the Xuehuan Continent. It is not convenient to make a move."

Jinlun God Lord understood and said, "My subordinate, that World Lord Mo Hong, once sent people to attack the talented descendants of the Lingtong Race, which made that Jiuyuan very angry. I originally thought that in order to threaten me, Jiuyuan would likely return from the Xuehuan Continent temporarily, at which point Your Highness would have an opportunity to strike. But that Jiuyuan seems to have only asked a few immortal god friends to look after the Lingtong Race and has not left the Xuehuan Continent."

Jinlun God Lord did not have any doubts about how Zhenxuan King would strike at Jiuyuan on the third battlefield.

Although the outer battlefield strictly forbade attacking allies, otherwise the Hong Alliance would impose severe punishment.

But the act of using a borrowed knife to kill was impossible to stop.

If a King-level powerhouse were determined to deal with an immortal god of an allied force, there were plenty of methods to use. It was just that ordinary immortal gods were rarely worth a King-level powerhouse's attention.

Zhenxuan King's face, covered by the bronze mask, revealed a strange, desolate ferocity. "That Jiuyuan should be executing a mission given to him by Fenglun King. However, it does not matter. As long as he is greedy, as long as he does not offload the inheritance crystal, I have enough patience to wait. Once he leaves the Xuehuan Continent and is on his way back to the god base, I can make my move.

Speak. Since you have told me about this matter, you must have an agenda. What do you want?"

Jiuyuan Holy Land.

Beiqiong, dressed in white, brought Jiang Yao through the teleportation channel into the true core of the Lingtong Race: the god kingdom.

Before them lay endless waves, surging and magnificent, with no end in sight. One could clearly feel the abundant life energy contained in every corner of the air and the seawater.

"There are many Universe Level and Domain Lord powerhouses in the race who cultivate in the Holy Land precisely because it contains such rich life energy."

Beiqiong led Jiang Yao, flying above the endless ocean.

"The ancestor achieved immortality through the origin law of water, so the god kingdom is also a vast ocean, with only one continent and many small islands."

Not long after, Jiang Yao followed Beiqiong down onto a small island. Of course, while it was called a small island, it was still tens of thousands of square kilometers in size, and the island was covered with stone walls of various sizes and heights.

"Is this Yuluo Island?"

Jiang Yao suddenly sensed with keen perception that although the life energy on the island was no denser than it was outside, it seemed to contain a certain marvelous rhythm, causing his unmanifested domain to stir restlessly while simultaneously feeling wisps of abundant life energy drilling into his body.

Bajie, inside the Taihuan Token, flapped his large ears: "This is basically a low-spec version of a nutrient pod..."

Jiang Yao shook his head slightly: "More than that, the rhythm generated by the surrounding space seems capable of triggering resonance within my domain..."

"It seems that this Immortal of your Lingtong Race has quite a profound attainment in the origin laws of space, though it could also be the effect of some kind of treasure."

Stationed on Yuluo Island was an old man with white hair and beard; although he had restrained his aura, judging by the degree of respect Beiqiong showed him, he was in all likelihood a World Lord powerhouse.

After Beiqiong displayed the token from the Council of Elders, the white-haired old man turned his gaze toward Jiang Yao, his eyes filled with scrutiny and appraisal.

"You are Jiang Yao? The last Stellar Level genius to come to Yuluo Island was Yanchen back in the day."