Chapter 180: Generous Luo Feng

In the royal palace of Yu Kingdom's capital.

Black Butcher and Su Zi exchanged glances, both tense.

"The King is going to Hu Yang City—and he's taking the two of us?" Black Butcher, a Perpetual True God, was naturally a high-ranking figure in ordinary cities. But logically, he had no right to meet the King.

The ruler of Yu Kingdom, who established a second-tier nation, was a name feared across the Origin Continent.

"Even I was chosen?" Su Zi was stunned—he was the only Void True God among the six attendants.

"Father…" Yu Shuitianyu also spoke; she was merely one of the King's children.

The furred Yu King stood there; even as a mere avatar, his invisible aura remained terrifying. His gaze swept over the six attendants, finally settling on the master and disciple pair—Black Butcher and Su Zi: "I'm traveling to Hu Yang City to visit Luo He Shenwang. I hear you two are old acquaintances of his?"

"Luo He Shenwang?"

"Luo He became a Shenwang?"

Black Butcher and Su Zi had not heard the news—they only now learned Luo He had become a Shenwang.

"Your Majesty, when Luo He Shenwang was still a mortal, he greatly favored my restaurant and often came to support me," Black Butcher replied obediently.

"Your Majesty, when I left my tribe, it was Luo He Shenwang who saved our entire expedition—only then could I reach Hu Yang City. He saved my life," Su Zi said.

The furred Yu King nodded calmly. Bringing two old acquaintances along was meant to draw closer to Luo Feng.

"Depart."

The Yu King gave the order.

Whoosh!

He carried the six attendants, instantly piercing through space-time, traveling through twisted dimensions.

In the next blink, the entire party emerged from the twisted space-time, appearing inside Hu Yang City.

"Luo He…" The Yu King floated leisurely, heading straight for the Governor's Mansion.

The Yu King's eyes held worry.

"In strength, the Tiankun King and I are nearly equal. But in terms of friends, Tiankun King far surpasses me," the Yu King felt uneasy now. "Tiankun King has many friends—even the imperial family of Yan Feng Ancient Kingdom holds him in high regard. Several Emperor Lords frequently summon him."

"Luo He is the direct disciple of an Emperor Lord of Yan Feng Ancient Kingdom. Perhaps he's friends with Tiankun King?" The Yu King had no confidence he could persuade Luo Feng.

He was used to going alone.

"I must at least try."

"If I can't persuade Luo He, I'll ask Sui Feng Shenwang to temporarily hold off Tiankun King—buy me some time," the Yu King had a backup plan: have Sui Feng Shenwang block him for one Ji.

In one Ji, he could find a way to escape safely from the Tianhe.

Right now, Tianhe is ambushed; fleeing hastily would easily lead into a trap.

If even one Ji isn't enough to escape… then I'll have to pay a heavy price—either abandon my true body, or negotiate with Tiankun King and the others.

"Father, the Governor's Mansion is ahead," Yu Shuitianyu suddenly reminded.

The Yu King stopped thinking, staring at the towering Governor's Mansion before him.

"Luo He," the Yu King sent a causal whisper, "It's Yu Shui."

A silver-robed figure appeared at the mansion's entrance.

"Governor!" The guards at the entrance immediately bowed respectfully.

"Luo He Shenwang?"

Yu Shuitianyu, Black Butcher, and Su Zi all saw the familiar yet slightly alien silver-robed figure.

Now, Luo Feng wore a silver robe, his aura even more ordinary.

"Greetings, King Yu Shui," Luo Feng said.

"I've long heard of your name, Brother Luo He—I've finally met you in person," King Yu Shui smiled. He had once tried to recruit Luo Feng as his disciple, but Luo Feng had politely refused and gone to Chu Capital in Yan Feng Ancient Kingdom.

"Three old acquaintances," Luo Feng smiled, glancing at Yu Shuitianyu, Black Butcher, and Su Zi—they were all from his Perpetual True God days.

"Luo He Shenwang," all three bowed respectfully.

"King Yu Shui, let's go inside and talk," Luo Feng said.

"Good," King Yu Shui entered with him, then instructed the attendants: "You may wander around Hu Yang City."

"Yes," the attendants replied, watching the King and Luo Feng enter before finally relaxing.

Black Butcher looked at the far more prosperous city, feeling a sense of unfamiliarity—he had once struggled here for years, laboriously accumulating resources to break through to Perpetual True God.

"Hu Yang City," Su Zi's emotions were more complex—his brother, Su Yun, had died long ago; he had received the news back then.

Back then, the two brothers had planned to settle in Hu Yang City! But later they took different paths—he followed his master to the capital, and Su Yun had come to see him off that day.

"Black Butcher, you two know Hu Yang City well—find us a place to eat and drink," Yu Shuitianyu ordered.

"Your Highness, follow me," Black Butcher immediately led the way.

…

Inside the Governor's Mansion, Luo Feng and King Yu Shui sat facing each other.

"The outside world claims that after becoming a Shenwang, you'd swiftly reach the peak of Shenwang First Layer," King Yu Shui looked at Luo Feng. "Today I see it's true—your physical body is already at the level of Shenwang Second Layer."

Though he had come only as an avatar, his realm remained intact—he could clearly sense the terrifying strength of Luo Feng's manifestation.

"I specialize in physical cultivation—my techniques are crude and unworthy of mention," Luo Feng laughed. "My strength today is thanks to you, Your Majesty."

"Thanks to me?" King Yu Shui was surprised—how was this connected to him?

"When you sent your daughter, Yu Shuitianyu, to deliver a single leaf from the Void Derivation Mother Tree, it greatly aided my cultivation," Luo Feng said.

That leaf was not particularly valuable—but it had deeply influenced Luo Feng.

Thanks to that leaf, he entered the Chaos Layer and gathered some Chaos Layer creatures, allowing him to begin studying the "Transformation Art" early. Without that leaf, his core combat technique might never have been the Transformation Art.

"A single Void Mother Tree leaf?" King Yu Shui chuckled. "Brother Luo He, you're too modest! It was just a leaf—helping Perpetual True Gods enter the Chaos Layer to better comprehend the 'Chaos Laws.' Merely an auxiliary cultivation item, nothing special."

"It meant everything to me," Luo Feng said, offering no further explanation.

!

Back then, I was desperately poor! A single leaf made all the difference—it accelerated my path to Chaos Realm immensely.

King Yu Shui now felt more at ease—he sensed Luo He's goodwill!

"Brother Luo He, I've come today with a very important matter," King Yu Shui spoke.

"Your Majesty, speak plainly," Luo Feng poured wine for King Yu Shui himself.

King Yu Shui said: "You're well aware of the situation between Shi Kingdom and Yu Kingdom."

"As long as you live, they won't dare destroy Yu Kingdom," Luo Feng said. King Yu Shui was a Shenwang Second Layer—if he were truly unbound, Shi Kingdom would face serious trouble.

The Mountain Guest had fled; Shi Kingdom could ignore him!

But King Yu Shui's deterrent power was entirely different.

"They dare not destroy Yu Kingdom, nor exterminate my clan," King Yu Shui shook his head, eyes filled with resentment beneath his fur. "But they can keep nibbling away Yu Kingdom's territory—consuming ninety percent of it, forcing our other Shenwang to leave one by one."

"Without most of our territory, Shenwang and Chaos Realm cultivators will depart. My clan won't have enough resources."

Luo Feng nodded.

At King Yu Shui's level, he likely valued resource-rich lands above all.

But the other four Shenwang and countless members of the Yu Shui clan needed the continuous flow of "residence fees" and heavenly treasures from the entire Yu Kingdom territory. Without them, clan tensions would grow severe.

"How many Shenwang can completely ignore their children and clan?" King Yu Shui said.

"Indeed," Luo Feng nodded.

For him, family, children, and the human clan mattered more than his own life.

"So I've come to ask you, Brother Luo He, for help," King Yu Shui said. "As a regional overlord, you're skilled in creating avatars. Even Tiankun King can't touch you—you have the strength to resist Shi Kingdom."

"Of course, I know this request will trouble you," King Yu Shui said. "If you fully oppose Tiankun King, you'll make a powerful enemy."

"Tiankun King is powerful—an accumulated Shenwang Second Layer. Facing him, you're at a disadvantage, forced to endure attacks. And he has many friends; several Emperor Lords in Yan Feng Ancient Kingdom favor him," King Yu Shui looked at Luo Feng. "If you don't wish to get involved, I understand completely."

"Tiankun King is not easy to provoke," Luo Feng nodded in agreement.

King Yu Shui said: "I have two proposals. First: invite you to fully join Yu Kingdom as one of our Shenwang. I'll grant you ample fiefdoms and treasures—these terms can be negotiated. Then you'll have every reason to help resist Shi Kingdom."

"Second: if you refuse to join Yu Kingdom, consider this a favor I'm asking of you. You may name your own terms. I can cede part of our territory to you—I can give you twenty Chaos Provinces from the entire Yu Kingdom… or offer treasures worth one hundred million merit points to secure your aid against Shi Kingdom."

"I know these terms aren't enough—you'd be standing against Shi Kingdom long-term."

"If you refuse, it's perfectly understandable," King Yu Shui looked at Luo Feng.

Every inch of Yu Kingdom's territory was already claimed.

To cede twenty Chaos Provinces, he'd need to reclaim lands from Chaos Realm and Shenwang vassals—and compensate them heavily. So Luo Feng could choose only one: either twenty Chaos Provinces or one hundred million merit points' worth of treasures.

"No need to join Yu Kingdom," Luo Feng smiled. "How about this: ten Chaos Provinces. Hire me—I'll hold off Shi Kingdom for you."

King Yu Shui had been anxious—his offer hadn't been generous.

"You accept? Ten Chaos Provinces?" King Yu Shui couldn't believe it—Luo He agreed too easily, even lowered the demand?

Consider: a deeply accumulated Shenwang like the former Mountain Guest could single-handedly establish a third-tier kingdom with roughly ten Chaos Provinces.

Luo Feng, as a regional overlord, would be resisting the entire Shi Kingdom—and he only asked for ten Chaos Provinces. It was extremely low.

"That single Void Mother Tree leaf helped me greatly," Luo Feng smiled. "Ten Chaos Provinces—I'll help Your Majesty. But I choose their locations."

"Fine, pick anywhere," King Yu Shui thought—even if he chose the most central ones, he'd find a way to resolve it.

"These ten."

Luo Feng waved his hand, revealing a map of Yu Kingdom—the ten Chaos Provinces closest to Hu Yang City, which also happened to be the area mirrored by his inner world!

"The ten Chaos Provinces near the border?" King Yu Shui was moved—the border provinces were now the worst off, some already occupied by Shi Kingdom, the rest under siege.

"These," Luo Feng said. "Also, Jiang Hou is my friend—I'm including the Nine Jiang Chaos Province. Please assign him a good fief."

"Rest assured, everything will be handled properly," King Yu Shui looked at Luo Feng, truly moved. "Brother Luo He, you've helped me with such generosity—I, Yu Shui, will never forget."

(End of Chapter)