Dongbo Xueying stepped into the region permeated with an aura of malevolence and destruction. Emerging from the distorted void, he immediately took in the sight of this peculiar space.
“Nest!”
It was a bizarre space where the void within had been twisted into the shape of a colossal tree. Upon this twisted void-tree, numerous ‘eggs’ had grown—each encased in gray shells, varying in size. At a glance, there were hundreds of them. The largest egg had already cracked open, revealing a newborn Destruction Demon infant, still covered in viscous fluid, gnawing on its own shell.
“Hmm?”
Within this nest, two fully matured Destruction Demon warriors clad in gray armor stood guard. Sensing spatial fluctuations, they abruptly turned their heads, yet the distance revealed nothing but emptiness—no trace of any intruder.
“There’s a cultivator here.” Though they couldn’t see or sense anything, they were absolutely certain that a cultivator had infiltrated.
The nest was saturated with destructive and malevolent energy, which clashed starkly with Dongbo Xueying’s own power.
“Discovered.”
Dongbo Xueying glanced at the void-tree. “The void itself forming a tree, capable of spawning eggs that birth Destruction Demons? Fascinating.” Given time, he would have loved to study it further. But the intelligence he possessed warned him against delay.
Boom—
Countless threads of energy descended. The two gray-armored Destruction Demons instantly disintegrated into nothingness. The massive twisted void-tree was forcibly contorted and shattered, along with the hundreds of eggs and the few newborn Destruction Demons—all annihilated in an instant.
Though this avatar of his was weak—operating from an immense distance, with his soul remotely controlling it—executing techniques was strenuous. Even when unleashing the first form of *Annihilation Blossom*, he could only manifest three flowers simultaneously, placing his strength at roughly the seventh level of the Star Tower. Yet, for a mere avatar, such power was already extraordinary.
With a single sweep of his *Panbo Diagram* domain, he effortlessly eradicated these gray-armored Destruction Demons—mere cannon fodder to him.
“Whoosh.” In a flash, Dongbo Xueying reached the spatial gate and swiftly dashed through.
Beyond the gate stretched a dazzling, multicolored spatial corridor.
“Kill him!”
“After him!” Led by a golden-armored Destruction Demon, a group of blood-armored warriors transformed into streaks of light, racing through the corridor. What was a perilous, disorienting maze to others was home to them—they navigated it effortlessly, unafraid of losing their way.
“So quick to react.” Dongbo Xueying was mildly surprised as he accelerated his flight.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
He fled at high speed, teleporting repeatedly. Even if caught, he could simply abandon this avatar—but he’d strive to preserve it if possible.
The corridor itself was treacherous. Beneath its radiant beauty lurked countless traps—missteps could fling one into hazardous zones of the Labyrinth Corridor. As a master of spatial manipulation, Dongbo Xueying could detect these traps if he proceeded cautiously. But under pursuit, high-speed flight left no room for careful scrutiny.
The corridor shimmered with shifting hues, every stretch indistinguishable from the next.
Whoosh.
When Dongbo Xueying reappeared after another teleportation, the surrounding light trembled—and he vanished.
“Whoosh—” A golden-armored Destruction Demon and his blood-armored entourage halted, gazing ahead. “The cultivator is lost. How fortunate for him to stumble upon another nest.”
“Just a low-tier nest,” remarked one of the blood-armored warriors.
—
Known nests were classified into three tiers: those spawning gray-armored, blood-armored, and golden-armored Destruction Demons. Naturally, golden-armored nests held the highest value, as even the weakest among them matched the seventh level of the Star Tower, with the strongest rivaling the ninth.
Destroying a golden-armored nest would be a monumental victory. When Crimson-Browed Mountain Lord made his exorbitant demands—charging 10,000 Source World Stones per discovery of a black-armored nest and a staggering 200,000 for a golden-armored one, with an annual fee of 10,000 even for no results—the price was steep.
But gray-armored nests were negligible. To a Cosmic Deity, the lowest-tier Destruction Demons were mere cannon fodder—easily slaughtered by a single avatar.
Black-armored nests warranted some attention, yet their value remained modest in the eyes of Cosmic Deities.
What they truly sought from Crimson-Browed Mountain Lord were golden-armored nests. The 200,000 Source World Stones would have been paid gladly—but none were found. Only five black-armored nests were located, costing them 150,000 stones. Even Cosmic Deities couldn’t sustain such extravagance.
To the Destruction Demons, low-tier nests were equally insignificant.
—
Whoosh.
Space twisted before Dongbo Xueying’s eyes, depositing him into a chaotic realm—layered, fragmented, awash in mesmerizing, kaleidoscopic hues.
“Lost?” The sight confirmed it. Escaping this place was impossible even for a Cosmic Deity—unless through ultra-long-range teleportation.
After a brief observation, Dongbo Xueying stepped into a nearby spatial distortion and vanished.
Reappearing on a stable corridor, he proceeded with caution. Five days later, he discovered another nest. This time, he didn’t recklessly enter. Instead, he slipped into a desolate space adjacent to it—a lifeless void slowly expanding.
From here, he peered through the apertures of his Dark Mist Sphere, observing the nest clearly.
“Another gray-armored nest.” He shook his head. Such nests weren’t even worth attacking.
—
Time flowed on. Dongbo Xueying’s avatar traversed the Labyrinth Corridor stealthily. After his initial impulsive entry, he now only approached nests indirectly, inspecting them from neighboring spaces. Yet he soon grasped the enormity of the task—the corridor spanned nearly half a standard Sacred World’s size. Finding low-tier nests took days; black-armored ones were far rarer. Even Crimson-Browed Mountain Lord’s methods had uncovered only five.
The search was arduous. Dongbo Xueying shifted his focus to cultivation, treating nest-hunting as a secondary pursuit. As he journeyed, he studied the corridor’s spatial anomalies, deepening his understanding of the void. His *Wayfarer’s Secret Code* advanced once more.
—
Exploration within the Labyrinth Corridor would undoubtedly be protracted.
Meanwhile, in Void Fortress, within a grand hall, numerous Chaos Realm cultivators—mostly avatars—gathered in small groups.
Dongbo Xueying maintained an avatar here as well. So long as it didn’t engage in combat, sustaining it required minimal mental effort.
“These Destruction Demons are cautious. They mostly operate in the outer domains, rarely venturing inward.”
“They’re no fools. In the inner domains, they’re reduced to slow flight—hardly ideal for incursions.”
In a corner of the hall, a massive projection displayed the inner and outer domains. While swarms of Destruction Demons roamed the outer regions, only a few dozen teams dared the inner domains—and even then, only near the borders, poised for swift retreat.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
As if obeying an unseen command, twelve Destruction Demon teams from the outer domains simultaneously crossed into the inner regions, all stationed along the boundaries.
“Twelve more teams have entered. Who will engage them?” a Chaos Realm cultivator called out.
“Me.”
“I’ll take one.”
“Count me in.”
Voices rose as cultivators stood, communicating via transmission tokens with Void Fortress.
“I’ve been here a while. Time to test myself against these demons,” Dongbo Xueying declared, rising. The cultivators sought battle, just as the demons did—for the latter grew stronger by slaying cultivators.
Soon, assignments were made: twelve Chaos Realm experts, each targeting a team. Avatars would scout the enemy’s strength, but true annihilation required their real bodies. Against the mightiest golden-armored Destruction Demons, even a Cosmic Deity’s avatar would falter.
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