From nothing to something is the hardest part. Once the egg is successfully nurtured, growing it from small to large, and even hatching it becomes much simpler.
“The Shadowless Talent—having two of them makes our task far easier.”
“In the past, every successful delivery of a ‘King’ relied solely on General Fuqian. He was the only one with the Shadowless Talent. If General Fuqian had failed and perished, we would have been in dire straits. But now, with two of them… haha, the chance of even one dying is already low, let alone two. There’s nothing to worry about anymore.” The six ‘Kings’ present watched with pleasure as the still-small egg gradually turned translucent once more.
General Fuqian also possessed the Shadowless Talent.
The void probes of the cultivators’ faction, whether in the outer or inner domains… were useless against General Fuqian. He could silently reach the final layer of the ‘Spatial Barrier.’
However, that ‘Spatial Barrier’ was the last line of defense. The cultivators had reinforced it with countless measures, making it so that even if the Cosmic Gods launched a frenzied assault, it would take considerable time to breach. General Fuqian could indeed infiltrate the Spatial Barrier with his talent, but during the infiltration, there would inevitably be minute fluctuations.
Clearly, the various measures of the Spatial Barrier still had a subtle effect on General Fuqian.
These ‘minute fluctuations,’ if detected under normal circumstances, would undoubtedly alert the cultivators! Though the ‘Shadowless Talent’ was formidable, the Cosmic Gods of the cultivators’ faction had fought against the Sacred Master to this day. If they discovered the methods of the Annihilation Fiends, dealing with a mere ‘Chaos Realm’ fiend—even one with a special talent—would likely not be beyond their means.
The Annihilation Fiends could not afford failure!
In the past, they had resorted to all-out assaults on the Spatial Barrier, using the chaotic fluctuations of battle to mask the subtle ripples of infiltration. Naturally, this made detection difficult.
“Once this little one is born and its strength has grown and stabilized, we can launch the next war,” said the winged man clad in purple armor. “Among the current Kings, eight have ventured outside. The three of us have yet to do so. We, too, must see the world of the cultivators, absorb their techniques, and perhaps, like ‘Emperor Jun,’ achieve another breakthrough.”
“Indeed.”
“It’s our turn to go out. Staying in the Corridor of Lost Realms, merely receiving the techniques they send us, without truly witnessing the world of the cultivators—how can we ever hope to break through?”
“With two Shadowless Talents, venturing out will be much easier.”
To date, the Annihilation Fiends had birthed fifteen ‘Kings.’ In the early days, they were collectively weaker, suffering consecutive losses—four Kings had fallen in battle. But as they grew stronger and united, the cultivators found it increasingly difficult to slay even a single King.
Eleven Kings remained.
Currently, five were outside, disguising themselves and roaming the world, even studying various cultivation techniques.
The other six remained in the Corridor of Lost Realms—a necessary force to ensure safety.
Unless a new King was born, for a King to venture out, one of the outside Kings would have to return to replenish their strength. Ensuring the safety of the Corridor of Lost Realms was their shared understanding. Though they considered the slaughter-crazed Annihilation Fiends to be fools… the Kings themselves had emerged from among them.
As Kings, their desires differed from those of the mindless fiends.
They had broken free of control, mastered themselves, and sought to grow stronger—stronger still! To become the supreme existence of this chaotic void! Though they, too, engaged in slaughter, it was not driven by the ‘urge to kill’ but by the pursuit of ‘special energy’ to empower themselves.
“From now on, we shall garrison the Eighth Golden Nest. Until this new one is born, we must ensure the nest’s safety.”
“Agreed.”
“Let us not repeat the past, where two Golden Nests were destroyed.”
The six Kings unanimously made their decision.
If only one King were to garrison the nest, they would be unable to withstand an assault by the cultivators’ Cosmic Gods in their true forms! But with all six united, though they could not guarantee victory, they had absolute confidence in their ability to hold the line.
……
They also communicated with the five Kings outside, negotiating terms.
An agreement was swiftly reached.
After all, having cultivated outside for so long, aside from the initial tremendous gains, further progress became increasingly difficult. Occasionally returning to the Corridor of Lost Realms was something they were willing to do.
……
Time flowed on.
The second Annihilation Fiend with the ‘Shadowless Talent’ was gradually being nurtured, guarded in silence by the six Kings.
The battles between the cultivators and the Annihilation Fiends continued as always!
The Annihilation Fiends repeatedly provoked, uncaring of casualties, for their goal was to grow stronger—their ultimate aim being to break free of the slaughter’s control and become Kings. The stronger an Annihilation Fiend, the more it despised being manipulated. Yet the urge was too terrifying; even the strongest Golden Fiends, at the ninth level of the Star Tower, could only barely restrain it, occasionally needing to vent.
Battle. Slaughter…
Casualties mounted, but more continued to grow stronger.
……
In the blink of an eye, nearly ten billion years had passed since Dongbo Xueying arrived at Void Fortress to wage war.
His illusion techniques were indeed formidable. Over these ten billion years, he had slain five ‘Golden Annihilation Fiends’ and over a hundred Blood Fiends. Not every Golden Fiend that ventured into the inner domain was as powerful as the ones Dongbo Xueying had first encountered.
His first encounter had been with three Golden Fiends—one at the ninth level, two at the peak of the eighth. That was an exceptionally strong group.
Normally, they were not so formidable. He also encountered Golden Fiends at the seventh or eighth level.
Dongbo Xueying’s illusions could slightly affect even those at the peak of the eighth level, allowing him to successfully slay five Golden Fiends. And where Golden Fiends fell, the Blood Fiends were even less of a challenge. Though the Annihilation Fiends grew warier of his illusions, they still needed to temper themselves. They could endure some losses, merely becoming more cautious—often pairing with fiends stronger in mental defenses.
Slaying so many Annihilation Fiends…
The absorbed special energy was equivalent to twenty thousand Sourceworld Stones.
Alas, this energy could not be traded.
Dongbo Xueying was still satisfied. He believed that with more time, he could hunt even more! And as time passed, being the strongest in the Path of the Illusory Realm in history—a truly monstrous talent—his understanding of the ‘Path of the Illusory Realm’ slowly deepened. He had revised the ‘Illusory World Structure’ of the ninth layer of his Vermilion Nightmare Inheritance multiple times.
The Vermilion Nightmare Inheritance had been created to enhance the soul and perfectly integrate with the other three inheritances.
On its own, the illusory world of the inheritance was not flawless, merely reaching the ‘eighth level of the Star Tower.’
By comparison, the ninth sword of the ‘Thirteen Swords of Annihilation’—the final sword at the Chaos Realm—was at the ninth level of the Star Tower. Of course, this sword already contained fragments of the Cosmic Dao.
In truth…
Further advancement in the Path of the Illusory Realm now meant progressing toward the ‘Illusory Cosmos.’ Each step would be arduous. Though Dongbo Xueying had revised the illusory world of the Vermilion Nightmare Inheritance multiple times, enhancing its power, it was not a qualitative leap.
“To master a ninth-level Star Tower technique purely through the Path of the Illusory Realm is too difficult,” Dongbo Xueying understood. “Comparatively, creating the third form of the Flower of Destruction would be slightly easier.”
In the quiet chamber…
Black scales emerged across Dongbo Xueying’s skin, his palms shimmering with a faint iridescence. His killing aura was completely restrained. After nearly ten billion years of battle at Void Fortress, he had finally mastered the ‘Balong Inheritance,’ reaching the ninth revolution.
His attainments in both the Path of the Illusory Realm and the Path of Slaughter were sufficient to create the ‘third form of the Flower of Destruction.’
But succeeding? That was an immense challenge.
As for the ninth-layer technique of the Path of the Illusory Realm or the ‘Ninth Sword of Annihilation’ of the Path of Slaughter—those were even harder. In essence, they were of similar difficulty to the third form of the Flower of Destruction. However, having created the first form of the Flower of Destruction at the Unity Realm and experienced ‘absolute perfection,’ coupled with the guidance of the ‘Stone Mirror,’ Dongbo Xueying found the third form slightly less daunting.
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