Staring at this evil clone of Shi Yan before him, Shi Sheng was overcome with deep regret. He had never anticipated that Shi Yan could grow to such terrifying power today!
He secretly regretted allowing this evil clone to enter the Devouring Black Hole so early, letting it absorb the intense negative, malevolent energy within the tunnel first.
Now, because this evil clone had absorbed an unimaginable amount of negative power, its terrifying aura was even more fearsome than the main body’s, causing him immense headache.
Endless negative energy surged in from all directions. On Shi Yan’s savage face, an ineffable black miasma gradually solidified. This black gas was extremely dense, laden with horrific, evil power. His crimson eyes were fixed on Shi Sheng’s shadow, and the overwhelming tide of negative emotion crashed into Shi Sheng’s silhouette like a burst dam.
“I admit you have gained traction, and you are certainly very powerful now. But the profound tenets you practice originate from my own inheritance! Do you imagine you can use the mystery of my power to slay and destroy me?”
In the shadow, Shi Sheng’s voice was sinister and ethereal, like the piercing scream of a ghostly specter, sending chills down the spine just hearing it.
There were nine shadows in total. As he spoke, eight figures flickered ominously, circling the central black shadow. Rings of malevolent aura embodying destruction, despair, and darkness radiated outward. The Eight Great Evil Power Tenets intertwined like ropes, slowly twisting and tightening into a more refined, potent, and terrifying energy mass.
The surging negative fluctuations Shi Yan suddenly unleashed were impacted by the energy formed by these circles of the Eight Great Evil Powers, as if swept aside, making it impossible for the energy to truly penetrate the depths of the shadow’s soul.
“Let me show you my Domain…” Shi Sheng sneered endlessly.
Thick black clouds rolled and surged forth, and a freezing, silent, violent, and crazed Domain materialized above his head.
That world slowly evolved into clarity. The sky seemed smeared with ink, frighteningly black; the earth was blood-red, filled everywhere with gruesome scenes—countless severed limbs and corpses. Death, destruction, despair, darkness, chaos, putrid spirits, decay, and phantom fires permeated that heaven and earth, staining every corner…
Any living being harboring even a sliver of goodwill would suffer immediate mental collapse and soul disintegration just by glancing at that realm.
It was the most terrifying world imaginable, the very fount of evil within Shi Sheng’s heart, a place he had guarded for years, so forbidding that even his own Shi Clan members dared not venture deep.
No living thing should have ever been born within that expanse; that world should never have even taken shape…
Even Zi Yao’s soul trembled upon facing Shi Sheng’s Domain, attempting to purify that defilement with the sanctity of divine light, yet failing to succeed.
In the vast sea of stars above and below, any powerful being, the moment Shi Sheng revealed that Domain, could not remain entirely unaffected.
Back when the Primordial God of War, Huang, the so-called strongest existence, battled Shi Sheng, even he was wary of Shi Sheng’s Domain. Even Huang… could not guarantee immunity from soul influence; that Domain could dredge up inner evil, causing one to lose selfhood and descend into extremity!
Beings possessing souls have complex seven emotions and six desires, harboring an evil side within. As long as a single wicked thought persisted, they would be affected by that Domain.
But this evil clone of Shi Yan was even more extreme now. This clone, upon which Shi Yan had placed great hope, was imprinted with Devouring and the Eight Great Evil Powers, having drawn away the entirety of Shi Yan’s evil inclination. After absorbing malevolent energy for this period, this Shi Yan had arguably become the most wicked being in existence!
Holding no trace of goodwill, a being purely of evil essence, this Shi Yan gazed upon the Domain Shi Sheng released. Surprisingly, not only was he completely unaffected mentally, but he erupted into maniacal, wild laughter!
“The profound tenets I wield cause you no harm because we share the same lineage, the same origin. Likewise, how can your Domain affect my heart!” Striking his chest, Shi Yan’s expression was savage and terrifying. He roared with a grim smile, “My heart holds not a sliver of goodwill. This body was forged from the evil aspects of my main self; I am the incarnation of wickedness. How can your Domain harm me?”
Shi Sheng’s Domain floated down from above his head, slowly descending toward Shi Yan.
Shi Yan roared violently, piercing his brow. A black hole instantly materialized within it, spiraling outward as a dark vortex, rotating frantically.
“In the battle between you and me, the Eight Great Evil Powers are utterly ineffective. Only the Devouring Tenet can decide the victor! One of us must be destroyed to complete the other—either you devour me, or I devour you! This is the only battle suitable for us!”
The dark vortex flying from his brow was dark and profound within, exactly mirroring the origin of his own Devouring Tenet. As Shi Sheng’s face darkened, Shi Yan cycled his Tenets again, forcibly extracting the islands representing the Eight Great Evil Powers, making them manifest around the Devouring Black Hole.
He forcibly pulled the Tenet layer away from his Soul Altar, concentrating all his power, operating the Devouring Black Hole at any cost!
“Whoosh! Whoosh!”
A terrifying suction force shot out towards every corner of heaven and earth. The negative energy within the tunnel surged in like rolling rivers.
“You speak truly; the ultimate outcome of the battle between us is mutual consumption. Either you die, or I perish. Devouring each other is the most fitting path for our confrontation.”
After his Domain failed to affect Shi Yan, Shi Sheng finally grasped the reality.
Their powers, their Tenets, their core of wickedness were almost identical. Fighting by utilizing the Eight Great Evil Powers under these conditions was useless to both parties, and the intense negative emotions could no longer truly influence their minds.
Only mutual consumption could truly end this, completely destroying one side!
Shi Sheng’s myriad soul projections instantly coalesced, also transforming into a Devouring Black Hole. This black hole was identical to the one formed by Shi Yan’s Tenet, and even the blood-soaked islands surrounding the black hole were a perfect match for Shi Yan’s.
“Come!”
Shi Yan roared, a frenzied bellow. This evil clone leaped forward, plunging directly into the Devouring Tenet he manifested.
Like a tongue entering a gaping, pitch-black maw!
Standing within the Devouring Black Hole, he faced the other Devouring Black Hole formed by Shi Sheng. Feeling the soul fluctuations emanating from Shi Sheng, the evil clone’s divine body suddenly trembled violently. From his pores, immensely dense negative energy billowed out, forcibly inflating his own Devouring Black Hole!
“Boom!”
The black hole he formed expanded and then attacked proactively. A tremendous roar echoed from within, like the mouth of a demon preparing to swallow the black hole formed by Shi Sheng.
Instantly, the black hole formed by Shi Sheng, along with the eight blood-soaked bone islands, were engulfed by the massive black hole.
Billions of years of Shi Sheng’s soul power, chaotic consciousness, and ice-cold, bloodthirsty thoughts erupted like a volcanic explosion, terrifyingly spreading!
Spreading towards the gigantic black hole condensed by Shi Yan’s Tenet.
That massive black hole swelled, like a black balloon about to burst. Shi Yan’s soul inside immediately felt an impact even more violent and terrifying than the previous influx of negative energy—like the world’s most dreadful bomb about to detonate within him, threatening to obliterate his flesh, soul, and every mark of his existence!
His face turned ashen. He immediately activated the Devouring Tenet, intending to digest Shi Sheng’s explosive power.
However, just as he moved, he suddenly felt an engulfing suction force erupting violently from within.
At that moment, a profoundly ominous sensation washed over him. He felt his divine body being eroded from the inside, bit by bit!
It was as if a greedy demon had appeared inside him, slowly consuming his flesh, gnawing at his meridians and bones, aiming to devour him entirely from within!
A sudden realization dawned upon him: this must have been what those people felt, those pulled into the black hole by his Devouring Tenet—that sensation of being eaten away, piece by piece!
“Hmm?”
Another strange feeling arose simultaneously; a wave of pleasure emanated from his soul—the miraculous sensation of the Devouring Tenet absorbing power!
The Devouring Tenet he manifested was also operating frantically, absorbing everything that was Shi Sheng. He felt as if he had a mouth feasting on delicacies, consuming food—a satisfaction he knew intimately!
He was devouring Shi Sheng too!
While his divine body was being gnawed upon, his Devouring Tenet was simultaneously sucking dry Shi Sheng’s power!
It was reciprocal!
He quickly understood that the unease he felt now, Shi Sheng was experiencing equally; the opponent was being consumed by him just as he was being consumed by the opponent, absorbing energy!
It was like two ferocious beasts tearing at each other, frantically swallowing the flesh of the other—both sustaining injury while simultaneously replenishing their own strength!
This was a test of endurance, the most brutal kind!
“Thank heavens, thank heavens!”
Once he understood, his tension and anxiety vanished. He let go of all emotional burdens, concentrating his mental power, soul, consciousness, and Tenets, operating the Devouring Tenet with all his might.
This would be an extremely long battle. Who among him and Shi Sheng would survive, who would master the origin of temporal evil and merge into this Devouring Tenet—the result would be determined by this fight.
It was different from the situation with his other Star Clone entering the Starry Tenet origin; here, he held no advantage, nor was he at a disadvantage…
The Devouring Tenet origin here showed no inclination to favor one side; it did not abandon him after Shi Sheng entered and consciously attempt to merge Shi Sheng’s body.
Because the inheritance of the Devouring Tenet practiced by this evil clone originated directly from Shi Sheng, it was the most orthodox evil tenet. Furthermore, he was at the third heaven of the Domain Ancestor, his cultivation level no inferior to Shi Sheng’s. This body was condensed from the Primordial Essence Blood and also served as the repository for all of Shi Yan’s evil thoughts…
Moreover, this evil clone had arrived first and had long since absorbed terrifying evil energy, completely compensating for any shortcomings compared to Shi Sheng.
Whether considering realm, power, understanding of the Tenets, or lineage, this clone was in no way inferior to Shi Sheng. This led the Devouring Tenet origin to treat him as Shi Sheng’s absolute equal, thus showing impartiality to neither.
This was a battle of equal footing and relative fairness! …RS