God Lord Jinlun bowed respectfully. "Jiuyuan is from the Lingtong Race. He entered the Outer-Region Battlefield five hundred eras ago, and not long afterward, he had some kind of fortunate encounter that greatly increased his strength. He has remained in the Outer-Region Battlefield ever since."
"The Lingtong Race..."
Zhenxuan King, wearing a Bronze Mask, fell silent for a moment, as if gathering information.
"Jiuyuan of the Lingtong Race, Third Battlefield, under King Fenglun. His combat strength has reached Marquis Level, but he hasn't cultivated an Undying Body..."
God Lord Jinlun's pupils contracted. He was secretly astonished. Jiuyuan really did have Marquis-level strength. Fortunately, he had been cautious.
After thinking for a moment, God Lord Jinlun continued carefully, "Jiuyuan seems to attach great importance to the upcoming Peak Genius Tournament. He's recruited young Stellar-levels from various branches and is training them carefully. But the Lingtong Race hasn't produced any particularly talented youngsters this generation. One little fellow reached Planetary Level with a Domain, but with the tournament approaching, there's no time to make up for lost ground.
"I'd wondered if Jiuyuan had obtained a spot in the Youyuan Secret Realm and wanted to use the tournament to select a suitable candidate..."
Zhenxuan King shook his head slightly. "None of the recent Youyuan Secret Realm spots awarded by Xuanshang Universe Lord went to Jiuyuan or the Lingtong Race."
God Lord Jinlun's eyes lit up. "Your Highness, then my guess is almost certainly right. If it's not a spot in the Youyuan Secret Realm, it's very likely the Divine Envoy Inheritance.
"And the next time that Divine Envoy Inheritance Crystal can be used isn't far off. It may even be very soon.
"If the next inheritance were still a long way off, Jiuyuan would never risk hiding the Divine Envoy Inheritance Crystal unless greed had clouded his judgment. It's not something he's entitled to keep; he'd have to sell it as soon as possible.
"But if the next inheritance is coming soon, Jiuyuan has ample reason to try to hide the Divine Envoy Inheritance Crystal for a while, then sell it after someone in the Lingtong Race has received the inheritance."
Zhenxuan King's Bronze Mask concealed his expression, but he seemed to agree with God Lord Jinlun's deduction. "The value of a Divine Envoy Inheritance Crystal depends on how rare it is within the race. If sold to the race, it would be worth around ten to forty billion mixed units. If he sold it himself, such a vast fortune would be a serious problem if word got out. A mere Marquis-level Immortal with Marquis-level combat strength would be in for trouble.
"Anyone thinking clearly would sell the crystal through King Fenglun... I checked. No new Divine Envoy Inheritance Crystals have appeared within the race in the past thousand eras, and King Fenglun hasn't made any large transactions through the Hong Alliance."
Hearing Zhenxuan King's words, God Lord Jinlun struggled to suppress his greed. Ten billion mixed units! Even King-level powerhouses would be envious of such a fortune, let alone an Immortal Army Lord like him. If he could get his hands on that kind of wealth, his strength would surely rise another level. Reaching Marquis-level combat strength would be easy.
Once he had tamped down his agitation, God Lord Jinlun felt a great weight lift from his heart.
Although Zhenxuan King's expression remained hidden behind the Bronze Mask and his voice was as cold as ever, the fact that he'd said all that proved he was tempted.
God Lord Jinlun came from a powerful race within the Human Race, one with an exceptionally large population spread across several Universe Countries.
A powerful race with a vast population had its advantages and disadvantages for individuals. For God Lord Jinlun, the downside was that even as an Immortal, he was insignificant within the race and carried no weight. So when he'd made a mistake all those years ago, the branch based in Xuanshang Universe Country had expelled him from the race without hesitation.
At the same time, the race's size made it difficult to foster the kind of unity found among smaller human races. After all, God Lord Jinlun's race had so many members that their numbers probably exceeded half the human population of a Universe Country. There was no chance of hometown folk shedding tears of joy upon meeting each other.
The race's powerhouses were also scattered among the five major factions and the various Universe Countries. Some even treated one another like enemies because they belonged to different factions.
So even if God Lord Jinlun wanted to meet with the higher-ups of his race in the Virtual Universe, he needed an extremely important matter to report.
Still, among the more than thirty King-level Immortals in the race, he had chosen Zhenxuan King only after careful consideration.
Aside from the fact that Zhenxuan King belonged to the Xuanshang Universe Country branch, he was also God Lord Jinlun's closest blood relative.
More importantly, Zhenxuan King was a powerhouse who had only recently been resurrected.
As far as God Lord Jinlun knew, Zhenxuan King had once been a prodigy in the race. He'd ranked first among the 1,008 Universe Countries in the Peak Warrior Tournament and entered the Core Layer of the Giant Axe Coliseum. The moment he became an Immortal, he'd reached High-level Marquis; after tens of thousands of eras, he'd become King-level.
But then he'd died, and all the treasures bestowed on him by the race and the Giant Axe Coliseum had been lost. He'd only been resurrected six hundred eras ago.
Not only had his strength suffered a great loss and left him deeply in debt, but his standing within both the race and the Giant Axe Coliseum had also declined.
God Lord Jinlun had judged that this once-brilliant prodigy of the race, newly returned and now saddled with debt, was the one who needed wealth most to make a comeback.
Only World Lords could receive the Divine Envoy Inheritance, but the crystal itself was worth hundreds of billions of mixed units. No King-level Immortal could possibly be unmoved by that.
Even if he didn't sell it, Zhenxuan King could present the Divine Envoy Inheritance Crystal to the race. That alone would be a major contribution, and it meant the race might be able to produce a Peak King-level powerhouse every era. (Only someone who fused the crystal into their body and became a Divine Envoy could attain Invincible King-level strength, comparable to an ordinary Universe Venerable, but they would be unable to pass on the inheritance. A Divine Envoy Candidate could only reach Peak King-level.)
That might not mean much to the Human Race, but it would be enormously beneficial to Zhenxuan King's own race, worth far more than a few hundred billion mixed units.
If Jiuyuan had sold the Divine Envoy Inheritance Crystal through proper channels, or if word had spread that he possessed one, Zhenxuan King wouldn't dare do anything, no matter how tempted he was. After all, the Human Race was governed by its five major factions and had rules and order.
But since Jiuyuan had risked concealing the Divine Envoy Inheritance Crystal to let someone from the Lingtong Race receive the inheritance, then if "risk" came knocking, he'd have no one to blame but himself.
Zhenxuan King fell silent for a moment, apparently checking some information. "Jiuyuan is currently on the Blood Continent in the Third Battlefield. It's not convenient to make a move."
God Lord Jinlun understood. "My subordinate Mo Hong, a World Lord, once sent people to attack a prodigy of the Lingtong Race. Jiuyuan was furious, so I'd thought he might temporarily leave the Blood Continent to threaten me. That would have given Your Highness a chance to act. But Jiuyuan seems to have merely asked a few Immortal God friends to watch over the Lingtong Race. He hasn't left the Blood Continent."
God Lord Jinlun had no doubts about how Zhenxuan King might act against Jiuyuan in the Third Battlefield.
Although the Outer-Region Battlefield strictly prohibited attacking allied forces, and the Hong Alliance would severely punish anyone who did so, there was no way to prohibit using others to do the dirty work.
If a King-level powerhouse decided to deal with an allied Immortal God, there were plenty of ways to do it. But what ordinary Immortal God would ever be important enough to catch the attention of a King-level powerhouse?
A strange, desolate malice emanated from the face hidden beneath Zhenxuan King's Bronze Mask. "Jiuyuan must be carrying out a mission assigned to him by King Fenglun. But it doesn't matter. As long as he's greedy, I can wait as long as it takes. If he doesn't sell the Inheritance Crystal, I'll wait until he leaves the Blood Continent. I can make my move while he's on his way back to the Divine Spirit Base.
"Now, since you've told me about this, you must want something in return. What is it?"
Jiuyuan Holy Land.
Beiqiong, dressed in white, brought Jiang Yao through a teleportation passage into the true heart of the Lingtong Race: their God Kingdom.
An endless ocean stretched before them, its waves surging with no end in sight. Yet it was easy to sense the abundant life energy permeating every corner of the air and water.
"Many Universe-level and Domain Lord powerhouses in the race cultivate in the Holy Land because of the abundant life energy here."
Beiqiong flew with Jiang Yao over the boundless ocean.
"Our ancestor became an Immortal through the Origin Law of Water, so the God Kingdom is also one vast ocean, with just one continent and many small islands."
Before long, Jiang Yao followed Beiqiong down onto an island. It was called an island, though it covered tens of thousands of square kilometers. Stone cliffs of all sizes and heights stood scattered across it.
"This is Yulu Island?"
Jiang Yao suddenly sensed that although the island's life energy wasn't denser than the surrounding area, it seemed to contain a strange rhythm. It stirred the Domain he hadn't yet unleashed, while abundant life energy seeped into his body, thread by thread.
Bajie, inside the Taihuan Token, flapped his big ears. "This is basically a low-grade Nutrient Pod..."
Jiang Yao shook his head slightly. "More than that. The rhythm in the surrounding space seems to be able to set off a resonance in the Domain..."
"Looks like this Immortal of the Lingtong Race has a fairly deep understanding of the Origin Law of Space. Of course, it could also be the effect of some kind of treasure."
The one stationed on Yulu Island was an old man with white hair and beard. He'd kept his aura concealed, but judging by Beiqiong's respect toward him, he was almost certainly a World Lord.
After Beiqiong showed the old man the Elder Council token, the white-haired elder turned to look at Jiang Yao, sizing him up with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Are you Jiang Yao? The last Stellar-level prodigy to visit Yulu Island was Yanchen."
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