The words of the Gold King surprised everyone, and they all turned to look at Lu Yu together.
Indeed.
The King Without a Crown seems to have existed since the time of star souls, present in every era.
Since the emergence of Wang Zun, and later the appearance of Wang, people have continuously compared these powerful warriors to the King without a Crown.
People are pursuing immense power, constantly pushing beyond limits.
However, the king without a crown can’t break through and will forever have to move forward step by step.
He can’t break through. It’s hard for him to become a king, let alone achieve the status of King Cheng.
People believe that an uncrowned king can never become a true king; no matter how strong their talents may be, such individuals can never transform into warriors as powerful as a king.
Yet no one realized that the strongest person had been right beside them all along.
The uncrowned king has long been suppressed and restrained by kings, unable to grow, causing people to almost forget the terror of the limitless.
Never before had anyone discovered that an uncrowned king could rival the power of a crowned monarch.
Now, the words of King Bao Feng shocked everyone present.
The words on the stone tablet mentioned by the Heaven-Devouring King filled them with even greater horror.
The power that surpasses the king’s might might truly exist!
The Storm King said, “If the power of a King were converted into Zun, there wouldn’t be a specific number. However, there is a limit to such power. How many tens of thousands of Zun an Unknighted King would need to reach to rival a King’s might is something we can no longer verify.”
The Storm King paused and then said, “Therefore, I can’t tell you exactly how much power you need to stand equal with a king. This is merely my speculation. To verify its truth, it ultimately depends on whether you can reach that level.”
Lu Yu murmured to himself, “Am I supposed to give up the chance to become king and just keep moving forward?”
“This is a method you can try. But this world no longer allows you enough time to experiment.”
“Then let’s try it. I’ll give up the chance to become a king and keep improving infinitely,” Lu Yu said, clenching his fists and gazing into the distance. “However, I won’t truly abandon the opportunity to become a king. If time runs out for me, I will choose to become a king. As for verifying everything, I’ll leave that task to other uncrowned kings.”
While chatting, everyone was also taking a break.
Several hours later, everyone got up and set off toward the next city.
The entire land of Huaxia is now shrouded in black mist.
The black mist was almost three feet thick.
Yet clearly, no black rain was falling from the sky, but the black mist on the ground was spreading much faster.
Lu Yu really didn’t know how many destroyed cities existed within Huaxia that contained beast crystals.
However, the fact that Lu Yu already has more than 1,600 restoration crystals on him indicates that they have already destroyed beast crystals from one hundred cities.
The dark fog grew thicker and thicker, spreading across the mountains and wilderness, covering city after city and ruin after ruin.
Three months later, Lu Yu gritted his teeth and said, “There’s no time left; retreat to defend the harbor.”
The black mist rose faster than they had anticipated. It was already just an inch away from reaching three feet.
They hadn’t even traveled half of the Huaxia land, but the Black Tide was coming soon.
They passed by a mountain, where the roar of beasts shook the mountainside.
The dark tide in the mountains was more than three chi deep, crashing against the mountains like a tsunami. When the wind blew, the black mist in the mountains moved with the wind, rolling like vapor toward the surrounding areas.
Someone exclaimed in astonishment, “This is a beast on the verge of becoming a king.”
Lu Yu gritted his teeth and said, “Kill it! The more beast kings we eliminate now, the less threat we’ll face when darkness arrives.”
Storm King said seriously, “Lu Yu, this mist is no longer confined to the ground; it has probably evolved. If we go in like this, we might be in danger.”
Lu Yu laughed and said, “We have eight Star Weapons and four Kings. Should we really fear this mere patch of black mist? Even if it truly is the Darkness descending, it shouldn’t be too difficult for us to fight our way through.”
The Storm King said seriously, “You don’t know the horror of the dark descent. If you insist on entering, be cautious. Act quickly and decisively, and don’t let the black mist trap you.”
“That’s right,” Gold King and the others said, looking at the black mist with equally grave expressions.
Such things could evoke their most unwelcome memories.
Everyone nodded and rushed into the mountains together.
Dark mist gathered in front of the mountain, reaching up to dozens of meters high, and had already formed a dense fog.
The dark mist was right before their eyes, and the mountain seemed no more than a single leap away for everyone present.
Eleven figures leaped high into the air, and the star artifacts held by the four kings were all activated, slashing toward the mountains.
Boom!
A beam of light pierced through the dark mist, slashing toward a wild beast in the mountains.
This beast was just on the verge of becoming a king when, suddenly attacked by four Star Artifacts, it let out a piteous scream and was split into a bloody mess.
Boom.
Lu Yu’s starry armor materialized around him, and with a gravity as intense as that of the stars themselves, he descended from the heavens.
Hum.
The peaks trembled and the earth roared.
“Poison the land!”
Lu Yu let out a cold snort.
Five hundred zhang below his feet, poisonous flames erupted and spread in all directions.
He truly intended to end it quickly; not only did he poison the land, but he also let flames rain down upon the writhing, fleshy bodies of the beasts.
The beast’s body had not yet fully recovered when it was immediately exposed to the toxic gas on the ground.
“Au!” The beast howled in pain as its half-recovered body rapidly corroded within the toxic gas, its flesh turning into black liquid that seeped into the earth.
“It’s a pity you didn’t become the king!” Lu Yu sighed, “If you had become the king, I could have completed my mission.”
Now he’s stuck on the task of defeating the King and can’t complete it, which means he can’t get new tasks either, leaving him extremely frustrated.
“Roar!” The beast kept struggling and screaming in the toxic flames.
The beast died in a struggle, its entire body turning into black water.
“Let’s go!” Seeing that the beast was already dead, Wang Tiantian looked at the dark mist around them and said, “These dark mists are about to take shape. It’s best to leave quickly.”
The Storm King had transformed into a raging whirlwind the moment he entered. Now, his voice came through the wind, saying, “Hurry up! If we are swallowed by the black mist, none of us will escape!”
Standing here, several kings felt their hair stand on end with terror.
I didn’t feel anything outside, but as soon as I came in, I immediately sensed something was wrong.
“I also have a bad feeling; the state of this black mist is not right.” The Golden King, his body radiating golden light, instinctively released his golden armor.
As soon as he finished speaking, pairs of eerie green eyes suddenly opened within the surrounding black mist.
In that instant, the faces of Feng Bao Wang and the others changed dramatically.
Without a word, Wang Tian unleashed his full power, activating his star artifact, and slashed his sword into the black mist.
Pairs of eyes were split apart.
Amidst the black mist, countless beasts roared in unison.
Dark mist began to swirl around the mountains, rolling toward the group and enveloping them.
Those eyes that had been split apart also gathered together, forming a colossal beast with countless eyes.
The black mist spread open, like a gaping mouth dripping with blood, rushing towards the group of people.
“Go!” shouted the Storm King. In an instant, he transformed into a raging whirlwind and surged into the dark mist.
The dark fog was blown open by the raging wind, creating a passage leading straight out of the mountains.
At the same time, the black mist, which had been scattered by the Storm King’s gale, gathered once again and surged toward the howling wind, as if to bite back with fierce determination.
“Quick, go!” roared the Devouring Heaven King. “Break through! The black mist here has already taken shape. Don’t let yourselves be swallowed by it.”
“Those who don’t want to die should get out quickly!” the Golden King shouted. “This is the beginning of the Dark Descent!”
The Blood-Weeping Inheritor exclaimed in shock, “What!”
“The darkness here is about to take shape.”
Lu Yu and others, seeing the expressions of the kings, realized at once that the situation was serious.
The words of the Gold King were somewhat frightening, but the expressions of the other kings left no room for further thought.
Everyone sprang up and rushed out of the mountain.
At this moment, Storm King had already reached the mountainside and, amidst the howling winds, transformed back into human form.
However, the appearance of the Storm King greatly surprised Lu Yu and the others.
The Storm King had multiple bones exposed throughout his body, and on some of the visible bones, fine tooth marks could clearly be seen.
Half of the Storm King’s face had been torn away, revealing the pale bone beneath, with his eye rolling in its socket, an extremely terrifying sight.
The Flame Bearer exclaimed in shock: “This is the Descent of Darkness!”
“That’s right. This is the Descent of Darkness,” the Storm King said, his flesh regenerating as he spoke, his voice cold. “Just now, the one we killed might have been the leader of this mass of black mist, which triggered the initial stage of the Descent of Darkness directly. Normally, within this black mist, there must be a fully-fledged king-level entity for the Descent of Darkness to manifest completely.”
“If even the king can be injured like this, how can we possibly overcome this Dark Descent?”
Lu Yu stared at the Storm King in astonishment and murmured, “Is this what the world looks like when the Black Tide is unleashed?”
The Storm King said, “You’re right. Once the Black Tide is unleashed, all beasts will be consumed and evolved by the black mist. This black mist is the embodiment of darkness descending, containing within it the lives of billions upon billions of beasts—it is their amalgamation. A single cluster of mist in these mountains equates to the combined essence of beasts from thirty Heaven Pits. What I just experienced appeared to be dozens of black mist clusters tearing through my body, but in that instant, I was actually enduring attacks from at least a hundred billion beasts simultaneously. And when the moment of darkness arrives, all beasts will evolve—slaughtering alongside a Beast King leading hundreds of billions of King Beasts.”
“How could it be so terrible.”
Lu Yu and the others were hearing the real information about the Dark Descent for the first time.
A beast king leading an attack of billions of royal cultivators was nothing more than a misty mass.
No wonder, not even the king could pass through the Darkening.
Take a look at Storm King’s current state; even the Fire Legacy Holder and others couldn’t help but feel their hair stand on end.
Lu Yu gritted his teeth and said, “Go, retreat to Fanggang!”
Everyone hurried on without stopping, as even glancing back at the dark mist swirling in the mountains sent chills down their spines.
“The only way to destroy the darkness that descends is to destroy the part within it that takes the form of the Beast King.”
On the way, King Storm told everyone the only way to destroy the Darkness.
That would require killing a king, which he is absolutely incapable of doing with his current abilities.
“After returning to the city, it seems some matters will have to be addressed earlier than planned.”
Lu Yu gritted his teeth and pushed his speed to the limit.
Along the way, they saw at least thirty clusters of black mist, each with a diameter of a thousand zhang, hovering motionless over stretches of desolate wastelands and ruined cities.
Those were cities they had never destroyed before, and now there were no beasts left in these cities. However, these black fog clusters made Lu Yu and the others’ blood run cold.
The Storm King said, “These are already formed Black Tides, merely waiting for the final fusion and evolution of the Beast King within them to launch their attack. Time is short; at most one month, and then the Darkness will descend.”
No one dared to stay; the wilderness was now more terrifying than the Demon Hunting Plains, more frightening than any other realm.
Just as they were about to reach Fanggang, which was another hundred miles ahead, a thick black fog blocked their way.
Eyes densely covered the dark mist, blinking incessantly. From the center of the mist, a wolf’s head emerged, fixated its gaze directly on the group.
King Gold was astonished and said, “It has awakened.”
The Storm King shouted loudly, “Don’t let the black mist swallow you. Everyone, be careful!”
Buzz.
The black mist stirred and, in an instant, the enormous beast with wings spread out like a tidal wave of darkness, covering the land for ten thousand zhang in all directions, directly encircling everyone within.
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