Xuanwu War Sovereign

Beneath the night sky, starlight showered down from the firmament onto Heavenly Red Peak, making it seem like an island suspended alone beyond the heavens.

The vast Sea of Clouds stretched endlessly, dotted with pavilions and towers. The grand, imposing temples and palaces looked like a desolate Divine Palace.

Atop the dais, Qin Feng was clad in a Black Robe. Silvery-white starlight, like frost and snow, fell upon him, making him look like a timeless, eternal Nine Heavens Divine Monarch.

"This Mixed Element Star Technique is truly incredible. After fusing it with my Innate Primordial Qi, the sheer volume of my True Qi has become astounding!"

Muttering to himself, Qin Feng waved his wide sleeve, and eight invisible, silvery-white longswords materialized in the air, one after another.

Geng Metal Breaking Killing Sword Technique!

It had been somewhat strenuous for Qin Feng to conjure eight Invisible Long Swords at once using this Sword Technique, but now, he did it with exceptional ease.

With a single thought, the eight silvery-white longswords transformed into eight streaks of white light that soared through the Void.

The eight longswords shot out, their light wreaking havoc! He controlled them as easily as his own limbs.

A radius of fifteen zhang!

Qin Feng’s range of control over the eight Invisible Long Swords had expanded from ten zhang to fifteen.

He swept his wide sleeve, and the eight cold glints flew back to him. He then retracted the eight streams of Invisible Sword Qi.

Qin Feng’s expression grew solemn. The next step was the most crucial one: to condense a Star Brand, leave his mark deep within the Fallen God Star, and turn it into his Lifebound Star.

Clearing his mind of stray thoughts, he sat cross-legged on the dais. With practiced ease, Qin Feng began to circulate the *Star Sensing Divine Skill*.

Following the faint, almost imperceptible connection deep within his Spirit Platform, Qin Feng’s consciousness soared out, appearing in the next instant amidst a boundless Star River.

A magnificent, sprawling Star River appeared before him. As far as the eye could see, countless stars twinkled with brilliant light.

Qin Feng scanned his surroundings. Far in the distance, a pure black, comet-shaped star came into view.

Fallen God Star.

His form flickered, and he plunged towards the Fallen God Star’s Origin core.

He shot into the black Fallen God Star like a ray of light.

This was an immense space, tinged with the color of Chaos.

The Fallen God Star was currently ownerless, so its Core Space was open.

What Qin Feng needed to do was leave his own unique brand here.

The *Mixed Element Star Technique* contained a Secret Technique for imprinting one’s lifebound mark.

Each Star Lord’s Lifebound Star Mark was unique.

While roaming the Star River, Qin Feng had encountered many strange Star Marks: some were shaped like tools, some like weapons, some like beasts, some like trees, some like flowers, and so on.

Qin Feng had even seen an extreme case where someone had fashioned their Lifebound Star Mark into a woman’s loincloth.

Qin Feng had prepared a design he was most familiar with.

The Demon Map!

The pattern of the Abyssal Demon Map!

This was an extremely complex Lifebound Star Mark!

It was common knowledge that the more complex a Lifebound Star Mark, the greater the consumption of Spiritual Power, and the more difficult it was to inscribe.

Nevertheless, Qin Feng was determined to use this design.

Qin Feng activated the Secret Technique from the *Mixed Element Star Technique*. Using his Spiritual Power as the base, he began to sketch out the design of the Abyssal Demon Map, one stroke at a time.

An incorporeal pattern took shape in the Void, glowing with a silvery-white luster. It was constructed stroke by stroke, like a masterpiece of art.

RUMBLE!

Instantly, a black-and-red Thunderbolt was born within the Core Space. The space began to roil as a terrifying, world-shaking killing intent began to form.

Amidst this earth-shattering change, Qin Feng’s expression turned grim. He was suddenly overcome by a sense of his own utter insignificance.

Like an ant beneath the Firmament.

An immense pressure bore down on his consciousness, and a thick, almost tangible aura of Death Qi enveloped it.

PFFT!

Qin Feng’s consciousness wavered, and the few strokes of the Abyssal Demon Map design he had just drawn instantly shattered.

Simultaneously!

From high in the Firmament, a blood-red bolt of lightning blasted down, enveloping Qin Feng.

BOOM!

His consciousness wavered, nearly torn to shreds and incinerated by the lightning’s power.

From the depths of his soul, a streak of black light shot out and settled above Qin Feng’s head, obliterating the baleful energy.

Backlash from the Evil Star!

If it had been anyone else, that single blow would have obliterated them, leaving not even a complete corpse behind.

Their consciousness would have been destroyed, turning them into an imbecile!

The Abyssal Demon Map spun above his head, unleashing a terrifying aura that seemed to suppress the very Firmament!

Expressionless, Qin Feng once again began to sketch the Demon Map with his Spiritual Power. Stroke by stroke, wisps of energy seeped into the design he was creating.

The silvery-white pattern reappeared!

RUMBLE!

The Fallen God Star trembled violently. An even more tyrannical and terrifying backlash transformed into a tidal wave of blood-colored lightning that crashed down upon him.

Ferocity, misfortune, ill-omen, and Slaughter coalesced into a torrent of blood-black lightning that surged toward him with a deafening roar.

Qin Feng’s consciousness felt as if it were suffocating in dense Death Qi. He saw a vision of himself being incinerated to ash by the blood-red lightning in the very next moment.

Qin Feng remained calm, splitting his focus in two. The Abyssal Demon Map unfurled, transforming into a devouring vortex of boundless darkness and evil. Without exception, the power of the Fallen God Star’s backlash was completely devoured by it.

After devouring a sliver of the Fallen God Star’s power, the Abyssal Demon Map began to emit a faint, mysterious glow. It was as if it were reawakening, a behemoth beginning to unleash its power.

The Abyssal Demon Map was, in essence, a peerless Divine Object on the verge of evolving into a Divine Weapon.

Although it had been heavily damaged during its passage through Space-Time, with the opening of its first layer, the Jade Sea Abyss, the Demon Map was steadily recovering its might.

The Fallen God Star possessed peerless power. If it had unleashed its full might in its backlash, the damaged Abyssal Demon Map would have stood no chance. However, this was merely an instinctual reaction, and the Abyssal Demon Map suppressed it with ease.

With the Abyssal Demon Map suppressing this interference, everything became much simpler.

Qin Feng immersed his entire consciousness into creating the Demon Map brand. His strokes were as smooth and fluid as flowing water and drifting clouds.

With each stroke, Qin Feng’s spiritual form grew a little more faint.

The consumption of Spiritual Power was terrifying.

With the final stroke complete, a silvery-white light flowed from the first stroke to the last, tracing out the complete design: a strange yet beautiful Demon Map.

The Demon Map bloomed with silvery-white light, seeming capable of devouring and bringing about the Demonization of all things. In an instant, it transformed into a silver streak and shot into the Fallen God Star’s Origin.

’It’s done!’ At that moment, Qin Feng felt the connection between himself and the Fallen God Star break through a bottleneck, becoming as seamless as the mixing of milk and water.

BUZZ!

Qin Feng was suddenly struck by a wave of dizziness, and his spiritual form felt as if it could dissipate at any moment.

The consumption of energy to draw the Lifebound Star Mark had been immense; Qin Feng was on the verge of collapse.

With a wry smile, Qin Feng struggled to keep his consciousness from dissipating.

Deep within the Fallen God Star, the Demon Map-shaped lifebound brand settled into the core and began to absorb wisps of the star’s Origin.

The Lifebound Star Mark transformed into a cocoon, absorbing the Star Essence Power that the Fallen God Star had accumulated over countless years.

Simultaneously, a faint stream of feedback flowed from the Lifebound Star Mark into Qin Feng’s spiritual avatar, which was on the verge of fading away.

It was like a clear spring, gushing forth without end.

Absorbing this feedback of pure Star Origin power, Qin Feng’s spiritual avatar began to solidify once more. Moments later, it had returned to its peak condition.

And what’s more, it had even improved slightly.

Qin Feng’s spiritual avatar was now glowing faintly; his Spiritual Power had been tempered by a trace of the Fallen God Star’s Origin.

With a calm expression, Qin Feng observed the Lifebound Star Mark.

Forging the Lifebound Star Mark was only the first step in controlling a Life Star. The next was to gestate a Star Battle Body.

This was the foundation needed to contend in the first layer of the Star River.

The first layer of the Star River contained not only a sky full of stars but also Nebula Battle Beasts that fed on them.

Nebula Battle Beasts were a type of terrifying Stellar Giant Beast nurtured by immeasurable starlight.

The law of the jungle—the weak are meat for the strong—was just as cruel and prevalent in the Star River.

Nebula Battle Beasts and the stars were both hunter and prey to one another.

If a Nebula Battle Beast was powerful enough, it could devour a star and evolve.

Likewise, if a Star Lord was powerful enough, they could hunt Nebula Battle Beasts, plunder the essence within their bodies, and temper their Lifebound Star.

If a Lifebound Star was powerful enough, upon reaching a certain level it could advance to the second layer of the Star River, entering a layer where the starlight was even more abundant.

The Star Battle Body was a Star Lord’s first step toward roaming freely across the Star River!

Only by gestating a Star Battle Body from their lifebound brand could a Star Lord gain the most basic means of self-preservation. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Just like the giant Celestial Serpent Qin Feng had once seen in the Star River, and that Valkyrie—these were all Star Battle Bodies.

However, according to the *Mixed Element Star Technique*, the power of a Star Battle Body could not be brought back into one’s physical body. Only if a star advanced to the 7th or 8th Layer of the Star River and gained the power to break through the Star River itself could the Battle Body be fused with one’s physical form.

However, as described in the *Mixed Element Star Technique*, when the Star Battle Body killed a Nebula Battle Beast, the resulting feedback from the star would also provide some benefit to Qin Feng’s physical body.