Making Enemies

The Wasteland City Lord looked at the distant figures, patiently waiting.

"One Blood Spirit Flower for 100 billion universe sands? No one will agree to that," said the Abyss Governor with a smile.

"I would buy a few at 10 billion universe sands each," came a voice from afar, a peak Chaos Realm cultivator speaking.

The Wasteland City Lord looked disappointed.

The price was too high, and even Luo Feng was speechless.

The 'Blood Spirit Flower Task' was part of the larger contest between the seven marquises of Emperor Chu's faction. The marquises often exhausted their resources, so being able to spend hundreds of billions of universe sands was already impressive. Even if someone bought three or five flowers, it wouldn't make much of a difference. After all, Luo He had already secured 25 flowers in the first round.

The Chaos Transcendents assisting in this task were invited by the marquises, but ultimately, it would be the marquises themselves paying the price. Chaos Transcendents, with their vast accumulation of treasures, far surpassed the marquises in wealth, but they weren't going to spend their own fortune on someone else's task. Figures like Luo Feng, Spirit Star, and the Abyss Governor were helping out of friendship, without expecting anything in return.

The Wasteland City Lord, seeing the lack of interest, lowered the price slightly. "I'll reduce it to 80 billion universe sands each."

Still, no one made a move.

"Sixty billion universe sands each, that's the lowest price," he said, his voice turning grim. After waiting a long while, a smile finally appeared on his face. "Looks like some people recognize the value. If anyone wants to buy, wait for the next round of the contest."

With that, the Wasteland City Lord transformed into a gust of wind and vanished, leaving the onlookers, including Luo Feng and the Abyss Governor, a bit surprised.

"Did he sell them? To which marquis?"

"Could it have been a fake sale?"

"He can't be faking it. Blood Spirit Flowers must be submitted to Chu City within ten days, or they'll turn into Blood Spirit Poison Flowers. He would keep them if they didn't sell."

The Chaos Transcendents and peak Chaos Realm cultivators present speculated before they, too, began to leave. As Luo Feng was departing, he glanced at Spirit Star Saint.

"Hmph." Spirit Star Saint smirked as he looked back at Luo Feng.

What does it matter if he wasn't targeting me? In the depths of the Origin Continent, most ancient beings followed the rules. They didn't want to make unnecessary enemies since many of them had responsibilities and connections. Only when it came to major opportunities did they act recklessly.

Spirit Star Saint wasn't one to act recklessly, although there were far worse offenders in the Origin Continent. Spirit Star Saint might have been more ruthless and cunning than most, but he hadn't engaged in widespread slaughter. His reputation, while fearsome, didn't come close to matching beings like the Ancestor of the Snow Realm or the Lord of the Shi Nation, who had destroyed several god-kingdoms.

After the Blood Spirit Star had completed one eruption, there would be a long wait before the next. Each round of eruptions could take up to one era, and there were usually only two or three waves per era.

"Hu." Luo Feng arrived at Chu Yu's residence.

"Luo He," Chu Yu's divine power avatar greeted him, "my true body is currently handling a task."

"This Heaven-Level Task has eight sub-tasks, and the Blood Spirit Flower is only one of them. Your personal tasks are even more important," Luo Feng said, taking out four Blood Spirit Flowers. "The Blood Spirit Star just completed its first wave, and I got these four Blood Spirit Flowers."

"I heard that the Abyss Governor only got three," Yufei nodded, having already received detailed information. After all, with several Chaos Transcendents involved and many peak Chaos Realm cultivators watching, the news spread quickly to the Flamewind Pavilion.

"This Spirit Star Saint is odd," Luo Feng remarked. "Though we've known each other for a long time, this time he only targeted me. Marquis Chu Yu, do you and he have a grudge?"

"None whatsoever," Yufei shook his head. "You've only recently become a marquis. Before that, you were just an Eternal True God. How could you have a grudge with a Chaos Transcendent?"

Luo Feng nodded slightly. "If there's no grudge, then the issue is clearly me."

"Luo He, do your best in the Blood Spirit Flower task, but there's no need to force it," Chu Yu laughed. "I'm the youngest among the marquises, a recent breakthrough. Even if my ranking is lower, it's no big deal."

Luo Feng glanced at him. "No matter what, I'll give my best in my personal sub-task."

"Of course," Chu Yu nodded.

"Well, I'll take my leave," Luo Feng said, turning to go.

Having taken on the Blood Spirit Flower task, he was determined to do his utmost.

"Luo He's temperament..." Chu Yu thought back to his time in Huyang City, where he had seen Luo Feng's loyalty and importance to friendships.

"Making Luo He my first personal guest was my best decision," Chu Yu mused, feeling fortunate.

After leaving Chu Yu residence, Luo Feng purchased a detailed report on Spirit Star Saint from the hidden pavilion in the Flamewind Pavilion.

While traveling back, Luo Feng studied the report.

"We've never known eachother, yet he's targeting me like this," Luo Feng pondered. He suspected there must be a reason for the enmity, as Chaos Transcendents rarely made enemies without cause.

"Spirit Star Saint's clone technique..." Luo Feng read the report, feeling a bit of a headache.

Spirit Star Saint's clone technique allowed him to have two shattered clones and one powerful clone. Each clone, including its divine body and soul, could operate at peak condition.

"His clone technique is more advantageous than my 'Four Tribulation Lifeform' technique," Luo Feng thought.

Though both were clone techniques, they were quite different. Luo Feng's "Life Essence" path within the Four Tribulation Lifeform could split off parts of his divine power to form clones. Even if he created hundreds or thousands of clones, it wouldn't be difficult. However, the combined strength of all his clones would only equal the strength of his complete form, and each clone would weaken the original.

"The Life Essence clone technique does not maintain overall strength as a whole, without any loss," Luo Feng mused. "But Spirit Star's clone technique creates additional, fully-formed clones that don't diminish the original's power. It's as if his divine power has doubled, and his soul has increased as well. Besides the shattered clones, he even has one powerful clone."

Luo Feng sighed.

He was still content with his abilities, as very few paths within the highest level of the Primordial Laws allowed for the creation of clones. From what Luo Feng knew, only the "Time Primordial Path" and the "Space Primordial Path" surpassed the Life Essence path in clone techniques.

Time Primordial Path clones, according to legend, could exist separately in the past, present, and future. Their power was mysterious and immense.

The Space Primordial Path allowed one to break through the boundaries of the cage. Having multiple usable clones, like Spirit Star Saint's two clones, was just the beginning of what could be achieved.

"Spirit Star is stationed at the frontier city, Xiangjie City, so one of his shattered clones must be there," Luo Feng thought. "The one participating in the Blood Spirit Flower task should be another shattered clone and his stronger one."

The more Luo Feng learned about Spirit Star, the more he realized how difficult it was to deal with him.

Luo Feng had servants and two disciples, yet he didn't care about their survival. Many of his disciples had died before, but for Luo Feng, cultivation was the most important thing, and everything else was secondary.

Meanwhile, the Wasteland City Lord arrived in a dark forest.

"Who would have thought, not a single Blood Spirit Flower was sold," the Wasteland City Lord sighed.

"You did say you were willing to sell them all for 80 billion universe sands each, but that's still a high price," said a figure formed from the gathered forces of the world, smiling as it looked at the Wasteland City Lord.

The Wasteland City Lord nodded, taking out the 12 Blood Spirit Flowers he had collected.

"Take them," he handed them all over.

"As per usual, during the task period, no matter how many Blood Spirit Flowers you collect, they're all priced at 80 billion universe sands each," the phantom figure said with a smile.

The Wasteland City Lord wasn't originally invited to participate in the contest, and while he refused to sell the Blood Spirit Flowers individually at inflated prices, he was willing to sell them for 80 billion sands each to this mysterious figure.

The Wasteland City Lord had tried to sell them publicly but had found no buyers.

"The marquises of the Yan Feng Ancient Kingdom are all too stingy," the Wasteland City Lord muttered, frustrated that none of them had bought his flowers.

"You've been more than generous," the phantom figure chuckled before vanishing without a trace.

Watching the scene unfold, the Wasteland City Lord thought to himself, "That old guy, I wonder who he really is," before disappearing into the void.

Back in his cave near the Blood Spirit Star, Luo Feng's divine power avatar continued to meditate, ever alert for any movement from the Blood Spirit Star, while his true body remained within the Star Tower, training.

"The Eight-in-One Form is difficult to comprehend at my current level," Luo Feng muttered as he studied the disintegration of the particles in the Eight-in-One and Ten Directions World Forms, pondering over the revealed laws.

Despite having reached the peak of the Chaos Realm in the paths of Life Essence and Life Body, Luo Feng found that to progress further, he would need to break through to the God King level. Although he had valuable resources like the Golden Scale Beetle's body and other perfect Chaos-level lifeform materials as references, he still faced many challenges.

"Competing for the Blood Spirit Flower has revealed many of my strengths," Luo Feng acknowledged. "When it comes to pure strength, the Wasteland City Lord is on par with me, but Spirit Star Saint has clearly surpassed me in many techniques. I can't even tell where his true body is, yet he can make such quick moves."

"Even with such power, I still didn't get that many flowers in the seventh round," Luo Feng smiled slightly, taking out a stone box.

Inside were four light-red fruits.

"At the Chaos Realm level, I planned to consume seven Primordial Crystal Fruits. Now is the crucial moment." Luo Feng took out one of the fruits and closed the stone box.

With his training at a bottleneck and his friend's task at a critical stage, Luo Feng decided it was time to act.

"This is the moment," he thought, biting into the fruit.

The tough fruit broke apart in his mouth as he chewed, swallowing it bit by bit. He could feel its energy spreading through his body, touching even his soul, making his spirit clearer and speeding up his thoughts.