God King Ruins

The God King ruins lay in the northeastern corner of the central region, a stretch of wreckage shrouded in chaos mist.

Seen from high above, the outline of the ruins was faintly discernible. It was an enormous temple complex, covering an area as vast as the surface of an ordinary planet. Even after hundreds of millions of years of erosion, its former grandeur could still be glimpsed among the broken walls and fallen structures.

Most of the main temple had collapsed, leaving only a few stone pillars, each tens of thousands of feet tall, standing upright. The runes carved into them still emitted a faint glow. Chaos mist poured from those runes, veiling the entire ruins in a haze.

"This is the place." Lord Peng Gong landed at the edge of the ruins and gazed gravely at the chaos mist ahead. "Darkness and Huang Jian are trapped inside this mist. It's very strange. It blocks all perception, and even Virtual Universe signals can't get through."

Qin Yuan released his Spiritual Force and tried to probe into the mist. But the moment it touched the edge, it vanished like a clay ox sinking into the sea, and he lost contact with it.

"System, analyze this chaos mist."

[Analyzing...]

[Target: chaos restriction (ancient God King Level)]

[Restriction type: composite soul-bewilderment and spatial-folding restriction]

[Restriction effects: blocks perception, distorts space, and erodes souls. Anyone below the level of a Universe Master who enters will have their soul completely eroded within ten breaths and be reduced to a walking corpse. A Universe Master who enters will have their perception suppressed by over 99%, lose their sense of direction, and find it difficult to escape.]

[Suggested method of breaking the restriction: a Soul Defense Supreme Treasure, or comprehension of the Soul Law at proficiency level or above, is required.]

[System notification: this restriction did not form naturally, but was deliberately placed. An extremely faint trace of the aura of "Source" has been detected at its core-it is suspected to be the work of a Hunyuan-level existence.]

A Hunyuan-level existence's handiwork?

Qin Yuan was shaken. A Hunyuan-level existence stood above God Kings, at the very pinnacle of all Source Worlds. In the entire original Swallowed Star novel, only a handful had become Hunyuan Lords.

Why would a Hunyuan Lord leave a God King ruin on a Primal Star?

Unless...

A possibility suddenly occurred to Qin Yuan. Could these ruins have something to do with Sitting Mountain Guest?

Sitting Mountain Guest was a True God of the Human Race, a disciple of the Original Ancestor, and Chaos City Lord's senior brother. But in the original novel, Sitting Mountain Guest's true identity was a disciple of "Yuan," a Hunyuan Lord who had reincarnated to cultivate anew! He had made arrangements on Earth and nurtured Luo Feng, all to find himself a disciple capable of breaking through to Hunyuan.

If these ruins really had been left by Sitting Mountain Guest, the secrets hidden inside were probably beyond imagination.

"I'll go in and take a look," Qin Yuan said.

"What?" Lord Peng Gong's expression changed. "You still haven't recovered. It's too dangerous to rush into a restriction of this level!"

"I have a way to defend my soul," Qin Yuan said. "Besides, I keep feeling there's more to these ruins than meets the eye. Lord of Darkness and Lord Huang Jian have been trapped inside for so long. If we delay any longer, their lives may be in danger."

Lord Peng Gong hesitated, then finally nodded. "All right, I'll go in with you. Ice Peak, stay outside and support us. If we haven't come out within an hour, ask Chaos City Lord for help immediately."

"Yes," Lord of Ice Peak replied.

Qin Yuan and Lord Peng Gong stepped into the chaos mist side by side.

As soon as he entered the mist, Qin Yuan felt a strange force trying to invade his soul. It was extraordinarily subtle, as silent and imperceptible as a spring breeze turning into rain. If his soul perception had not been sharp enough, he would never have noticed it.

"Star River Domain-protect my soul!"

Qin Yuan activated the Star River Domain. Brilliant starlight formed a protective film around his soul, keeping the eroding force at bay.

Lord Peng Gong had his own means of defending his soul. A speck of purple-gold light shone between his brows. It was the Purple-Gold Soul Seal, a soul Supreme Treasure he had nurtured for many years, and it too could resist the erosion of the chaos mist.

The two felt their way forward through the mist.

Space within the mist was distorted. Sometimes they would walk a thousand meters straight ahead, only to find they had actually been moving in circles; at other times, they would move from side to side and unknowingly venture deeper into the ruins. Without sufficient mastery of the Space Law, it was easy to be utterly confounded by the distorted space and remain trapped there forever.

Qin Yuan deployed both the Time Law and the Space Law, constantly analyzing the patterns in the spatial distortions around them to find the right path.

After they had walked for roughly a quarter of an hour, the mist ahead suddenly began to thin.

A relatively intact side hall appeared before them.

The doors of the side hall stood open, and four ancient characters were carved into the lintel. Qin Yuan studied them and recognized them as ancient divine script. They meant "Place of Trial."

"A trial?" Lord Peng Gong frowned. "What exactly did the owner of these ruins want?"

Qin Yuan did not answer. Instead, he stepped into the side hall.

The interior was unexpectedly plain. A stone platform stood in the very center, with two objects floating above it.

The first was a transparent crystal ball the size of a fist. Inside it was sealed a cluster of gray mist that constantly shifted in form.

The second was a beast-hide scroll, exactly like the one Qin Yuan had obtained in the canyon ruins.

A line of text was carved into the floor in front of the stone platform:

"Those who enter this gate must pass the trial. Those who pass may receive my inheritance. Those who fail will have their memories erased and be sent out of the ruins."

"Another inheritance?" Lord Peng Gong was somewhat surprised. "This is already the third God King inheritance ruin we've encountered on a Primal Star. Since when have God King inheritances become so cheap?"

Qin Yuan, however, felt even more certain of his earlier conjecture.

These were no ordinary God King ruins, but a place of trial deliberately arranged by Sitting Mountain Guest! As a Hunyuan Lord who had reincarnated to cultivate anew, Sitting Mountain Guest possessed countless God King-level inheritances. He had distributed these inheritances among various secret realms to screen for promising beings and find a disciple capable of truly carrying on his legacy.

In the original novel, Luo Feng had passed a series of similar trials and ultimately earned Sitting Mountain Guest's recognition.

And now, Qin Yuan had encountered the same trial.

"What are the rules of the trial?" Lord Peng Gong looked around, but found no explanation.

Just then, the transparent crystal ball on the stone platform suddenly lit up. The cluster of gray mist drifted out of the ball and condensed into a blurry human outline in the air.

"Welcome to the place of trial," the human outline said in a deep voice. "I am the Void God King. I left this trial solely to select true geniuses. The trial is simple-attack me with your strongest power. Anyone who can make me move my feet within a hundred breaths will pass."

Void God King!

Qin Yuan's heart shook. The beast-hide scroll he had obtained in the canyon ruins was none other than the Void God King Inheritance · Basic Chapter!