Chapter 264: Win or Lose

Luo Feng had no choice. Under the corrosive influence of those nine strange powers, he couldn't unleash much of his strength at all. Without using a sacred artifact, he stood no chance of winning the wager battle against Progenitor Lei. With the Star Tower protecting him, he could now more easily contend with his opponent.

Of course, simply hiding inside the tower without counterattacking would still count as a loss! To win the wager, he had to engage directly and gain an advantage.

"Is this the nine-story pagoda?" Progenitor Thunder knew about Luo Feng's confrontation with Di Qing and was aware of the pagoda's existence.

"Progenitor Thunder, in this wager battle, I only stand a chance if I use a sacred artifact," Luo Feng said. "Be careful."

"I've cultivated for several eras longer than you; it's already a case of a senior bullying a junior," Progenitor Thunder said with a smile. "Feel free to use any sacred artifact you possess. As long as you gain even the slightest upper hand, I will concede."

Luo Feng's body instantly transformed into an endless river of water. The basic life units of this boundless blood river were still 'multi-hoofed clawed biological forms,' but its external manifestation became a river of blood. The blood river instantly enveloped Progenitor Thunder.

"Hm?" Progenitor Thunder could sense that the blood river's waters were incredibly heavy, forming a spatial prison to trap him. Furthermore, a power sought to penetrate and crush his body. Progenitor Thunder stood motionless, only invisible power flowing around his body. His physique was utterly perfected, rendering all external forces unable to penetrate or even shake him.

Luo Feng once, by himself, overpowered eight Monarchs working together! Compared to that time, the fundamental energy composing the blood river had evolved from 'twenty-four forms' to 'multi-hoofed clawed biological forms.' Luo Feng's realm had also advanced significantly.

"Quite interesting." Progenitor Thunder, as if playing in water, reached out and stirred the blood river. The entire boundless blood river trembled violently and began to burst apart in places.

"Go!"

Luo Feng, still in the form of the endless blood river, instantly released the Star Tower and unleashed a killing move. After Luo Feng obtained the Eye of Life and Death and gained a deeper understanding of the 'twelve-colored blood-red scales' on its edge, he finally comprehended a nine-branch secret technique of the Path of Life and Death, named 'Meteor'! With the Star Tower's profound patterns, this move could be elevated to an incredibly terrifying level.

"Boom—"

The Star Tower, like a meteor, instantly streaked across the void of the cosmic sea.

"Hm?"

Both Progenitor Thunder and Progenitor Yan Feng, watching from afar, changed their expressions. They were immensely experienced and discerning. The scene of the Star Tower streaking across the cosmic sea's void like a meteor... time seemed to halt, and space naturally parted. At that moment, the Star Tower was utterly indestructible.

Progenitor Thunder couldn't evade this strike, because the moment he saw the meteor, it had already 'simultaneously' crashed into his body.

"Rumble!"

Progenitor Thunder took the hit, his majestic body staggering back several steps. The power limitations of the supreme rules were like shackles, completely binding his strength. Of course, the Star Tower was also heavily constrained, yet even with equivalent power, it managed to repel him.

"An incredibly powerful sacred artifact! It must be a top-tier one!" Progenitor Thunder was absolutely certain at this moment. "This strike halted time, split space, and compressed matter to its extreme, rendering it indestructible! It must be an ultimate artifact refined by Elder Yuan and his peers."

"Such a huge gap in realms, yet he can repel Thunder using a sacred artifact? It must be a treasure worth over a hundred thousand reward points in Infinite Space." Progenitor Yan Feng thought the same. Only treasures of that caliber could create so many miracles.

"Hahaha…"

Progenitor Thunder laughed heartily. In the distant surroundings, figures of lightning condensed, forming eight lightning avatars in total. The nine Progenitor Thunders (including the main body) naturally formed a vast formation. As the formation operated, it rapidly suppressed the grand paths of time, space, matter, and life! Luo Feng's endless blood river also became much quieter. Only the Star Tower, transformed into a meteor, continued to tear through the formation repeatedly before striking Progenitor Thunder's true body and his avatars.

However, under the formation's suppression, the Star Tower's counterattacks were greatly diminished in power.

"Even without using my own treasures, I can't completely suppress this small nine-story pagoda." The nine Progenitor Thunders watched the Star Tower tear through the formation and charge, a hint of greed deep in their eyes. He craved such a treasure, but alas, the Galaxy Monarch wouldn't give him the chance; he wouldn't take this pagoda out of the Origin Continent.

Progenitor Thunder waved his hand and tossed out an ancient stone pillar. The stone pillar became the core of the entire formation, making the nine Progenitor Thunders' formation significantly stronger, and its suppression of the grand paths of time, space, matter, and life became even more terrifying.

At this moment, Luo Feng himself was completely suppressed. Although the Star Tower could still charge, it was lost within the formation and could no longer reach Progenitor Thunder.

"He actually forced Thunder to use a sacred artifact." Progenitor Yan Feng watched from afar, quite surprised. Progenitor Thunder was a Half-Primal Chaos Lifeform; he should have been able to suppress the Galaxy Monarch even without using any treasures. Yet this time, he was forced to use a sacred artifact! This clearly demonstrated the unique qualities of that nine-story pagoda.

"The gap between them is too vast," Di Qing observed. "Even if Brother Galaxy has the nine-story pagoda, he still can't win. It's already remarkable that he forced Progenitor Thunder to use a sacred artifact."

"Galaxy, do you have any more tricks up your sleeve?" Progenitor Thunder asked. "If not, just concede."

The endless blood river instantly converged into Luo Feng, who looked at Progenitor Thunder with considerable admiration. "Progenitor Thunder, your realm is indeed far higher than mine. Therefore, I must employ a forbidden move."

"Forbidden move?" Progenitor Thunder was surprised, then chuckled. "Feel free to use any forbidden move you have."

Luo Feng nodded, but with a thought, he entered the Star Tower. At this moment, the Eye of Life and Death on Luo Feng's brow opened! Peering into the 'twelve-colored blood-red scale' within the Star Tower, Luo Feng couldn't discern any destructive weaknesses in it; he only perceived its perfect might.

However, Luo Feng could see where the scale's vitality was strongest, a fact he had discovered through extensive trials over long periods. "Although I don't fully understand it, with the Eye of Life and Death, I can harness a trace of this blood-red scale's truly terrifying power." Under the gaze of his Eye of Life and Death, Luo Feng swiftly activated the profound patterns within the Star Tower's deeper regions. Previously, he had only been able to activate superficial patterns, completely ignorant of the deeper ones. But by using the Eye of Life and Death to perceive the peak of its vitality, coupled with countless trials over the years, Luo Feng had finally figured out a method to draw upon a trace of its power.

This was also why he dared to wager battle with Progenitor Thunder.

"Buzz." As he drew upon it, a trace of blood-red light 'extended' from the twelve-colored blood-red scale, beginning to permeate the entire Star Tower. The Star Tower transformed into a blood-red pagoda.

"Hm?"

Progenitor Thunder and Progenitor Yan Feng, observing from afar, saw the nine-story pagoda change color, and a subtle sense of oppression began to weigh on their hearts.

"I've heard that some treasures worth over a hundred thousand reward points are refined using World-level Primal Chaos Lifeforms as materials, and some even use the corpses of Primal Chaos Progenitors," Progenitor Thunder mused as he looked at the Star Tower. The terrifying aura emanating from the tower was a trace of an existence far more terrifying than anything confined within their current realm. "This pagoda must be one such treasure."

"Go."

The Star Tower once again streaked across the void of the cosmic sea. This time, everything in its path was pierced through; time, space, and formations were all breached. It instantly slammed into Progenitor Thunder's true body, sending him flying backward in a miserable state.

"Thunder World, Ten Absolute Grand Formation!" Progenitor Thunder could no longer hold back. He threw out a set of his most powerful formation artifacts. As a cultivator from an Origin World, if an avatar adventuring outside were to perish, he could simply send another. Thus, he kept many of his most precious treasures within the Origin World. For example, Progenitor Thunder's most powerful 'Thunder World Ten Absolute Grand Formation' — he currently possessed two sets of this formation: one he carried with him, and one kept in the Origin World as a backup.

At this moment, he could no longer hold back and went all out. He truly hadn't expected to be forced to use his most powerful formation on the Origin Continent.

"Rumble!"

Ten figures condensed from lightning appeared around him, each controlling a grand formation. The ten grand formations perfectly merged into one, forming a Thunder World. This Thunder World naturally operated with its own rules, suppressing all foreign powers.

"Suppress!" Progenitor Thunder went all out, aiming to suppress the Star Tower.

"Rumble!"

The blood-red Star Tower still forcibly pierced through the formation; the formation found it difficult to suppress it.

"This Ten Directions Grand Formation is like a labyrinth," Luo Feng frowned slightly. The Star Tower charged wildly, crashing from one formation into another, yet it couldn't reach Progenitor Thunder. "The realm gap is too vast," Luo Feng thought. "Even if the Star Tower is powerful, I can't reach him."

Immediately, his Eye of Life and Death meticulously observed the Thunder World. Under the gaze of the Eye of Life and Death, the spacetime structure, energy flow, and the integration of the ten formations all became much clearer. Luo Feng instantly spotted dozens of weaknesses in the formation's operation. As the formation ran, these weaknesses also shifted.

"Go."

As Luo Feng's Eye of Life and Death discerned the formation, he instantly acted on his will. The Star Tower flashed. It instantly followed the formation's weaknesses, piercing through numerous spatial obstructions, and violently slammed into 'Progenitor Thunder' who was hiding deep within the Thunder World, sending him staggering backward.

"How is this possible? How could he find me?" Progenitor Thunder couldn't believe it. Although he was a Primal Chaos Bloodline cultivator, this formation was refined by an enlightened being at the Half-Primal Chaos level whom he had commissioned. Breaking this formation was by no means easy.

Progenitor Thunder took a step and immediately hid in another part of the Thunder World.

"Whoosh."

Resisting the Thunder World's suppression, the Star Tower once again pierced through the formation's weaknesses, striking Progenitor Thunder's body. Once, twice, thrice. He was struck repeatedly. Under the Origin Continent's power limitations, neither combatant could truly injure the other. Thus, the wager battle was about who gained the upper hand. And now, the situation was very clear.

"I lost," Progenitor Thunder declared, dispelling the formation. He looked at Luo Feng with complex emotions. While he had verbally admitted that the Galaxy Monarch had a slim chance of winning, deep down, he never truly believed he would lose! In his eyes, even if the Galaxy Monarch possessed a super powerful sacred artifact, he still couldn't defeat him.

"A junior who hasn't even left the Origin World can overpower me with the aid of a sacred artifact?" Progenitor Thunder's emotions were mixed.

"Due to the Origin Continent's power limitations, I could only gain a slight advantage when both you and I were operating under the same power constraints," Luo Feng said. "If we were outside, I probably wouldn't even be able to retaliate."

Overwhelming power triumphs over all tactics. Luo Feng was well aware that if the power gap was too great, even the Star Tower might be seized.

"A win is a win," Progenitor Thunder gently shook his head. "I can afford to lose. I will personally handle Lando!"

With that, Progenitor Thunder took a step and departed.