Chapter 950: Golden

In the quiet chamber of Void Fortress, Dongbo Xueying’s small abode.

“No.”

“Still not working.”

The illusory world was breathtakingly beautiful, with a black flower bud of nine petals forming within it. Countless veins appeared on the leaves and petals, each subtly adjusting. Dongbo Xueying strained to maintain the black flower bud, but in the end, it collapsed.

“It lacks that sense of perfection. It’s still far off.” After attempting to create the third form of the Flower of Destruction, Dongbo Xueying immediately felt the difficulty. Although creating the Flower of Destruction at the Unity realm was comparable in difficulty to creating the third form at the Chaos realm, it was based on his current foundation. His current level of comprehension far surpassed what it had been at the Unity realm.

To achieve a flawless combination, absolute perfection—not a trace more, not a trace less—only then could it be considered a killing move of the ninth-tier level!

As for his current self…

If he were to challenge the ninth level of the Star Tower now, he could pass even without relying on the Three-Colored Heavy Clouds treasure, thanks to his defensive capabilities. First, he had mastered the Balong Legacy to its peak. Second, he had the auxiliary ability of ‘Void Transformation’ and could hide within an illusory world. Combining these three, his defensive methods could truly be called ninth-tier. If he included his treasures, his defense might rank among the top five in the Chaos realm.

But his offensive capabilities were weaker.

The second form of the Flower of Destruction… Even if he could now unleash thirty flowers at once, it still fell short compared to the ninth-tier Golden Armor Demons, let alone figures like the ‘Chaos Hall Master’ or ‘Emperor Xinghuo.’ Emperor Xinghuo was most famous for his offensive techniques—just the name ‘Xinghuo’ hinted at his mastery of fierce and domineering methods.

“It feels so chaotic. The more profundities I try to incorporate, the more the difficulty skyrockets.” Dongbo Xueying felt a growing frustration in his heart.

Because he hadn’t even touched the ‘edge’ of it.

All he felt was that the techniques he envisioned lacked any sense of beauty, riddled with failures everywhere.

“Haah…”

Dongbo Xueying closed his eyes, gradually calming his mind.

“No rush. I mustn’t be hasty.”

“Compared to the ninth-tier techniques of the Void Path, where I don’t even have a concept yet and lack sufficient foundation… At least for the third form of the Flower of Destruction, my foundation is solid, and I have many flashes of inspiration.” Dongbo Xueying mused silently. “As for the constant failures—this is, after all, a ninth-tier technique. Even geniuses don’t create ninth-tier moves this quickly.”

In the history of the Six Great Holy Lands, the other two who reached the seventh-tier at the Unity realm had vastly different paths. The Heart Image Sect Master’s cultivation speed was slow, mainly because he created his own ‘Heart Image’ system. Meanwhile, ‘Emperor Jinyi’ progressed relatively quickly, reaching the eighth-tier peak in just over eight billion years! After some battles and tempering, he cleared the ninth level of the Star Tower in five hundred billion years—a truly astonishing feat.

But Emperor Jinyi had genuinely created a ninth-tier domain technique. Even opponents of the same tier found it nearly impossible to touch him within his domain.

Of course, Emperor Jinyi was a ‘Primordial Cultivator.’ Primordial Cultivators didn’t seek complete comprehension—they only needed to be able to execute the technique. This made it somewhat easier than Dongbo Xueying’s rule-based profound techniques. Yet, it was undeniable that Emperor Jinyi had created a ninth-tier technique within five hundred billion years of becoming a Chaos realm expert.

Emperor Jinyi…

His cultivation speed back then was so astounding that even the Cosmic Deities believed he might step into the Ultimate realm.

Yet, after countless eons, he remained at the ninth-tier.

In history, only the ‘Sword Master’ of the Grand Void Heaven Palace could be considered a true monster in terms of cultivation speed, advancing with unparalleled momentum.

“There’s no need to compare myself to Emperor Jinyi.”

“After all, most ninth-tier experts like Emperor Xinghuo took endless ages to master ninth-tier techniques.” Dongbo Xueying settled his mind and continued his deep cultivation and research.

—

The cultivators and the Destruction Demons stood in a tense standoff, clashing repeatedly in both the inner and outer domains.

“Kill!”

A battle erupted at the edge of the inner domain—and soon ended.

The Destruction Demon forces fled in disarray.

“General Megu, when is our next operation?” The fleeing squad returned to the Corridor of Lost Realms. Three Golden Armor Destruction Demons walked side by side. One was tall and slender, his golden scales fine and dense, covering even his head. Three black curved horns jutted forward, and faint streams of light shimmered across his scaled skin. This was General Megu.

“Stand down. Next time, I’ll take another squad with me.” General Megu’s violet-glowing eyes swept over the other two.

“Yes.”

These two Golden Armor Destruction Demons—one at the ninth-tier, the other at the eighth-tier peak—showed deep respect to General Megu, who was only at the seventh-tier peak.

Because the ‘Kings’ had long issued strict orders.

General Megu… held a status equal to ‘General Fuqian,’ standing above all other Golden Armor Destruction Demons! Only the ‘Kings’ had the authority to command them.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

General Megu traversed the Corridor of Lost Realms at incredible speed, even phasing through space repeatedly.

Yet, far behind him, a purple-armored, winged figure followed silently. He was one of the six ‘Kings,’ the most adept at evasion. For some time now, he had been secretly protecting General Megu.

“Megu…” The purple-armored figure’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. “It’s almost time. He just needs to send us out—his own strength doesn’t need to be too high. A little more tempering, and he’ll be ready. The world of cultivators… how I long for it.”

To the ‘Kings,’

Generals Megu and Fuqian were of great use, which was why they valued them so highly, even going so far as to personally protect them in secret.

As for other Destruction Demons? They were far more indifferent. The ‘Golden Armor Destruction Demons’ still held some importance—they were the main combat force against the cultivators, and new ‘Kings’ might emerge from their ranks. But those beneath them? Mere ants! No matter how many died, the Kings couldn’t care less.

“Currently, eight Golden Armor Nests have been spawned. Two were destroyed by the cultivators, leaving six.”

“Of these six, two have produced those with the Shadowless talent, and they continuously spawn more Golden Armor Demons.” The purple-armored figure placed great importance on the Golden Armor Nests—after all, he himself had been born from one.

“The spaces around Golden Armor Nests are now more heavily guarded, making discovery increasingly unlikely. The more Golden Armor Nests we have, the stronger our Destruction Demon forces will become—more Shadowless talents, more Golden Armor Demons, and perhaps even more ‘Kings.'” The purple-armored figure mused silently.

Compared to the cultivators, they were still at a disadvantage in overall strength. Even when infiltrating the cultivators’ world, they had to do so stealthily, never daring to engage in open warfare. Fortunately, their innate survival abilities were formidable—if they couldn’t win, they could always flee. Thus, the cultivators could only watch helplessly as they grew stronger.

—

Corridor of Lost Realms.

The black-robed Dongbo Xueying walked along the dazzling spatial corridor. To his eyes, everything around him revealed the profound mysteries of the void—truly a sacred land for void cultivation.

“Hmm?”

The black-robed Dongbo Xueying suddenly paused. Instinctively, he peered through the pores of the most fundamental ‘Black Mist Spheres’ of the void to observe his surroundings. Even without dealing with patrolling Destruction Demons or deciphering hidden nest spaces, simply peering through the Black Mist Sphere pores was enough… Yet the Corridor of Lost Realms was vast. Over ten billion years, he had only discovered twenty-six Blood Armor Nests—less efficient than the Crimson-Browed Mountain Lord.

But that made sense.

The Crimson-Browed Mountain Lord had a complete legacy. Not only could his avatars perform ultra-long-range teleportation, but he also had cloning techniques. It was only natural he’d be slightly better at scouting.

“This is…?” The black-robed Dongbo Xueying could hardly believe his eyes.

Whoosh.

With a single step, space twisted before him, and he teleported to a sealed space very close to the target.

At this proximity, he peered again through countless Black Mist Sphere pores and clearly saw a nest space nearby. Within it stood an incredibly beautiful ancient void tree and nine golden eggs.

“A Golden Armor Nest?” Dongbo Xueying’s heart raced uncontrollably. He looked carefully—yes, the color of those eggs… they were golden!