Chapter 164: The Lord of the Shadow Heaven Realm

"Don't release Qingyan and the others yet," Luo Feng instructed. "I'll get you to Huyang City as quickly as possible."

In Huyang City, Luo Feng had a powerful avatar, which was sufficient to handle many dangers.

His current weak avatar had been somewhat lucky to kill the gray mist entity. While he possessed the *Li Yuan Technique*, another reason was the gray mist entity's extremely weak spiritual will.

Even among God Kings at the first level, it was rare to find one with such a weak spiritual will. Many peak Chaos Realm beings possessed spiritual wills comparable to God Kings.

"A God King at the first level with such a weak spiritual will is truly uncommon," Luo Feng mused.

"Master, was this assassination attempt targeting me and Qingyan?" Morosa asked, puzzled. "Logically, Qingyan and I shouldn't attract such powerful enemies."

"It's because of me."

Luo Feng explained, "Not long ago, I destroyed a major opportunity belonging to God King Wuxiang of the Food Kingdom."

To be able to hire members of the Shadow Realm for an assassination! Luo Feng quickly guessed the mastermind.

Since arriving in the Origin Continent, he had kept a low profile and had few enemies. The only one likely to spend so much to hire the Shadow Realm just to kill a servant and a disciple was most likely God King Wuxiang.

"You destroyed his major opportunity? How significant was it?" Morosa inquired.

"It might have been the accumulation of all his resources since he began cultivating," Luo Feng speculated.

A guest God King needed 50 million merit points to exchange for one such opportunity.

Although Ancestor Wuxiang was at the peak of the first level of God King, it was indeed very difficult for him to acquire this opportunity.

In fact, Ancestor Wuxiang had obtained this opportunity by sacrificing his brotherly bond with the Heavenly Kun Kingdom Lord, effectively selling himself to the Two Realms Palace.

"The accumulation of all his resources since cultivation? This God King Wuxiang must be furious," Morosa remarked. "Master, you've definitely made a mortal enemy of him."

Luo Feng smiled, saying no more.

Under Luo Feng's control, the flying vessel traversed the void at an extremely high speed.

Luo Feng also began examining the corpse of the God King he had just collected.

"The treasures of this God King..." Luo Feng discovered several storage items carried within the corpse, as well as a hidden God King weapon that the opponent evidently hadn't had time to use.

"Some ordinary treasures, and a golden spearhead-like object, a God King weapon at the first level."

Luo Feng turned it over, examining the golden spearhead. "Adding everything up, all the treasures barely amount to a hundred billion universe sands."

"This God King is so poor?" Luo Feng wondered.

Even City Lord Huangfeng, who cultivated the Primal Chaos Bloodline and spent all his resources on himself, could produce 80 billion universe sands.

This God King, who clearly had deep accumulations, only carried so few treasures?

Too poor!

"Most Chaos Realm transcendents are richer than him," Luo Feng said, returning to his study of the corpse.

Upon closer examination, Luo Feng discovered the corpse's extraordinary nature.

The gray mist corpse's mist had condensed into a liquid that slowly flowed, with gray mist still spreading across its surface.

It appeared to be mist, yet it was incredibly tough.

*Hiss.* Luo Feng attempted to damage it, but as the gray mist was destroyed, it naturally restored itself.

Even in death, the corpse remained extraordinary. Luo Feng had discovered this when he previously used his blade array to try and shred it.

The opponent's mist was incredibly resilient; Luo Feng's entire blade array had been exhausted, yet the damage to the mist body was negligible.

"He must have used all his treasures on his body," Luo Feng guessed.

"Morosa will get a good deal," Luo Feng chuckled to himself. The more extraordinary the corpse, the greater the benefits Morosa would naturally gain after absorbing it.

A moment later.

The flying vessel had arrived above Huyang City. "Master, that corpse..." Morosa looked at Luo Feng.

"When we return to Xiangjie City, you can retrieve it from the Star Tower." Luo Feng glanced at him. "Even if you absorb it, it must be done inside the Star Tower." With that, Luo Feng vanished.

Morosa was eager to return quickly, but he couldn't; he had to accompany his good disciple, Qingyan.

Morosa waved his hand, releasing Moye Qingyan and his wife, along with their entourage, back into the flying vessel.

"We're alright?"

Moye Qingyan and his wife were astonished. When they had been put away, Grand Sage Luohe's blade array had already been defeated! The giant gray mist entity was about to attack. Yet now, they were above a city?

"We've arrived at Huyang City," Morosa said. "Qingyan, you and your wife should go down quickly and meet your father. Finish your affairs and return to Xiangjie City as soon as possible."

"Yes, Second Master." Moye Qingyan couldn't help but ask, "Second Master, how did we get here alive?"

"Don't ask so many questions." Morosa shot him a look, then was already the first to exit the flying vessel, flying down towards the City Lord's Mansion.

Moye Qingyan and Zhang Yungue exchanged confused glances. With their entourage, they could only follow him down.

In a vast, secretive world, known as the Shadow Realm.

"Completely dead? All avatars destroyed?" A figure composed of lightning was shocked upon receiving the news and immediately flew out of an ancient grand hall.

He transformed into a streak of lightning, instantly traversing a vast distance to arrive before a secluded pavilion in the Shadow Realm.

"Master." The lightning figure, whose aura was terrifying, stood outside the pavilion, still showing immense respect. "The Mist Envoy has utterly perished, all his avatars destroyed."

"How did he die?" Inside the pavilion, a figure sat.

As this figure sat there, he naturally influenced the entire Shadow Realm, and his influence even permeated beyond it, affecting many parts of the Origin Continent.

"We received a mission from God King Wuxiang of the Food Kingdom: to kill Grand Sage Luohe's servant, Luosa, and his disciple, Moye Qingyan," the lightning figure respectfully reported. "This mission was assigned to the Mist Envoy. The Mist Envoy sent an avatar to carry out the assassination... After the avatar failed, the Mist Envoy even descended in his true body! But after his descent, he never returned, and all his avatars vanished, along with all traces of his karma."

"He's thoroughly dead, then," the figure inside the pavilion remarked.

"Master, although the Mist Envoy's strength was merely at the peak of the first level of God King, his survival abilities were extremely strong. How could he have died so suddenly?" the lightning figure asked.

"He had avatars in the Shadow Realm," the figure inside the pavilion stated. "There were no karmic attacks that reached the Shadow Realm... So it must have been some kind of soul attack—perhaps an assault on his spiritual will, the destruction of his soul, or even control through an illusion. All are possible."

The lightning figure replied, "Although the Mist Envoy's spiritual will was weak, it still reached the threshold of a first-level God King. To kill him solely with spiritual will, one would need a will beyond the ultimate realm of God Kings... Few in the entire Origin Continent can achieve that. As for the soul path, techniques reaching the God King level in the soul path are also very rare."

"There are two possibilities," the figure in the pavilion said with a smile. "Either he encountered a terrifying existence with an extremely powerful spiritual will that instantly annihilated him, or he met someone accomplished in the soul path. It's a small matter, you don't need to be too concerned."

"Yes, Master," the lightning figure replied respectfully.

As one of the core members of the Shadow Realm, he understood that the many envoys were merely ordinary members of the organization.

"Although I bestow power upon you, you must also temper your own will. Without sufficient spiritual will, you cannot perfectly master this power," the figure in the pavilion said.

"Yes, Master," the lightning figure replied, bowing respectfully before departing.

The figure sitting in the pavilion watched this scene. "Cultivating powerful beings through external means ultimately has significant flaws," the figure mused. "No matter how many I cultivate, when they encounter truly powerful existences, they will all be annihilated by a sweeping wave of will."

"However, the World Beast from the Heavenly Wood Kingdom—the lives it cultivates within its internal world are quite perfect. And that one from the East Pole Domain, who imbues life with the Grand Dao of Life Origin... their creations are also more perfect than mine."

"The one from the East Pole Domain, having survived the Great Destruction of the Source World, is indeed different."

"There are still some crucial points that I haven't fully comprehended."

The figure in the pavilion mused, "I can select one from among the God Children and try to cultivate a new Mist Envoy."

To the master of the Shadow Realm, cultivating an envoy was merely an experiment in his secret art cultivation. Moreover, these experimental subjects were absolutely loyal and diligently worked to earn him resources.

Food Kingdom, Wuxiang City.

Ancestor Wuxiang had been waiting for the Shadow Realm's response.

"God King Wuxiang, mission failed." The Shadow Realm's response finally came.

"Failed?" Ancestor Wuxiang couldn't believe it. "You, the Shadow Realm, failed against a mere ordinary Chaos Realm being and an Eternal True God?"

"Luohe's avatar was protecting them," the Shadow Realm replied. "If you wish for another assassination attempt, it will cost 500 billion universe sands, and we can act again! We will dispatch more powerful members."

"No need."

Ancestor Wuxiang immediately cut off the communication.

"Five hundred billion universe sands? Just to kill a servant and a disciple? Even if I succeeded, I'd feel like I lost money!"

"The Shadow Realm is so famous, yet so useless." Ancestor Wuxiang was both frustrated and enraged. He had already lost a major opportunity, and now, after paying 60 billion universe sands to the Shadow Realm only for them to fail, his anger naturally intensified.

Ancestor Wuxiang couldn't swallow this humiliation, but he also knew that acting personally would be foolish, so he could only contact his elder brother.

"Wuxiang, what is it?" the Heavenly Kun Kingdom Lord responded.

"Big Brother." Ancestor Wuxiang concealed nothing from his elder brother, immediately recounting the events in the Infinite Space and his request for the Shadow Realm's intervention.

"The opportunity I obtained at such great cost is just gone, just like that. I really can't stand it!" Ancestor Wuxiang declared.

"You can't stand it, but you must," the Heavenly Kun Kingdom Lord's voice came, laced with coldness.

Ancestor Wuxiang was startled.

"The Shadow Realm's chances of failure are extremely low, which is why they are known as the Origin Continent's foremost assassination force," the Heavenly Kun Kingdom Lord's voice continued. "When they act, they definitely consider many factors. Luohe has numerous avatars, so they would certainly have accounted for the protection provided by one of his avatars. Yet, they still failed... This clearly indicates there was a more unexpected situation."

"An unexpected situation?" Ancestor Wuxiang wondered.

"I'm very familiar with how the Shadow Realm operates. This unexpected situation is very valuable, and they'll only tell you if you pay a sufficiently high price," the Heavenly Kun Kingdom Lord said.

Ancestor Wuxiang knew very well that his elder brother, being a second-level God King and an official member of the Two Realms Palace, was deeply involved in the high-level conflicts of the Origin Continent and indeed understood various forces far better than he did.

"It's worth investigating what unexpected factors were involved in this assassination," the Heavenly Kun Kingdom Lord added. "Another reason is that you will gain nothing good by continuing to fight Luohe. He is Emperor Chu's personal disciple. If you truly continue this conflict... not only will you fail to kill him, but you will also damage my relationship with the Ancient Flame Wind Kingdom."

"My relationship with several Emperors of the Ancient Flame Wind Kingdom is extremely close, and I cannot allow you to jeopardize it," the Heavenly Kun Kingdom Lord stated.

"Understood," Ancestor Wuxiang replied.

One reason his elder brother could navigate the Origin Continent with such ease was his excellent relationship with several Emperors of the Ancient Flame Wind Kingdom. Of course, his brother's culinary skills, which had reached the God King level, were another reason why those Emperors highly esteemed him.

"The Ancient Flame Wind Kingdom and the Ancient Thunder Kingdom are the two most central powers in the Origin Continent. As long as we maintain a good relationship with the Ancient Flame Wind Kingdom, all other factions will have to think twice before dealing with us. Therefore, your conflict with Luohe ends here!" the Heavenly Kun Kingdom Lord declared.

"Yes, I understand," Ancestor Wuxiang could only obediently reply.

Once the communication was cut, Ancestor Wuxiang felt quite displeased: *My elder brother, despite being a second-level God King, stoops to curry favor with the Ancient Flame Wind Kingdom! Now, he's even unwilling to offend a mere disciple of Emperor Chu.*

Despite his dissatisfaction, Ancestor Wuxiang could only obediently comply.

After all, if he wanted to seize great opportunities and benefits, he would ultimately have to rely on his elder brother.