“Heh, who I am hardly matters, does it? What does matter is that you are thoroughly surrounded now.” Lei Dong’s silhouette slowly materialized, hovering leisurely in mid-air, utterly alone, gazing with amusement at the Shadow Demon King. “They always say the Shadow Demon Clan is treacherous and cunning, but from where I stand, it’s nothing more than that. Surrender obediently, and this Venerable One will spare your life.”

The Shadow Demon King frantically blasted his colossal divine sense in all directions, yet failed to detect a single trace of any enemy. Reassured, he subtly commanded his clansmen with mental resonance to quietly encircle the young man opposite—a mere peak Nascent Soul aura who dared to speak such hubris.

Out of ten thousand clansmen, barely a few hundred had fallen; the power wielded by the Shadow Demon King remained formidable. He refused to believe anyone in this world could single-handedly wipe out nearly ten thousand of his elite kin.

“Boy, such audacity. You truly have nerve,” the Shadow Demon King slowly coalesced into a solid, pitch-black form, cackling sinisterly. “Have you swallowed some kind of madness potion, daring to trifle with this King? Speak: which faction do you serve, and how did you discover this location? Confess honestly, and I shall grant you a swift end. Otherwise, you know precisely how many methods our Abyssal Clan possesses to make you reveal everything willingly.”

“Alas, a man facing death still so arrogant,” Lei Dong shook his head with mock pity. “With your intellect, you genuinely do not grasp why I have come? No wonder you were betrayed by Udis and had the throne of the Abyss Lord usurped. Lei truly feels sorry for you!”

Just as the Shadow Demon King was about to erupt in a furious order to shatter the youth into dust, he paused slightly, as if a thought had just clicked into place, murmuring, “Lei? Could it be… you are Commander Lei Dong of the Hidden Dragon Army?” Lei Dong’s name carried considerable weight in the Abyssal Domain now.

This was because, with just his contingent, he had held off two armies led by Winged God Clan Kings who were native to the Abyss. Not only that, but he had employed clever tactics that nearly routed King Liu Yue and King Chi Xing. Had Udis not been so fearful of Lei’s powerful ally and attempted to use King Shengyao’s reinforcements to severely weaken Lei’s strength—only to fail and suffer a backlash—King Shengyao might well be facing a pincer attack from two mighty armies right now.

That fool Udis’s action had, ironically, done King Shengyao an immense favor; otherwise, King Shengyao would have had absolutely no chance of turning the tide in that conflict.

“Heh, to think an existence such as the Shadow Demon King would concern himself so much with a junior. This junior is truly flattered,” Lei Dong chuckled. “Shadow Demon King, I grant you one more chance: surrender to this Venerable One obediently, or I shall ensure your soul is scattered and utterly annihilated, never to reincarnate for eternity.”

“Insolence!” the Shadow Demon King roared, a tempest of anger surging through him. “Youngster, I admit you possess some skill, your forces are strong, and your strategies are not lacking. If you had brought your entire army to surround me, those words wouldn’t be out of line. But now, you, a mere individual, trapped within the encirclement of nearly ten thousand of my clansmen—do you still dream of victory? Humph, do you think you are a Void Refinement stage expert? Hmph, even if you possessed Void Refinement strength, you would not escape today. For now, I shall overlook your arrogant ignorance. Seeing you as a rare talent, I offer you an opportunity: surrender just one wisp of your divine soul to serve this King faithfully, and I shall spare your life.”

At its core, the Shadow Demon King deeply coveted the strength under Lei Dong’s command. Lei himself was nothing special, but his subordinates were a legion of powerhouses. If he could make this Lei surrender, wouldn't those formidable experts become his to command?

Just as Lei Dong said, the Shadow Demon King, perhaps blinded by the desire for vengeance following his betrayal, had lost a degree of rational judgment. Otherwise, why wouldn't he consider why a dignified leader of a massive power would so foolishly step into danger and allow himself to be surrounded? Most ridiculously, why would he have revealed his own whereabouts voluntarily?

“Alas, what a pity. A dignified Lord of the Abyss, reduced in the end to suffering from madness, excessively self-assured,” Lei Dong slowly shook his head in resignation. “Since that is the case, there is no need for further negotiation.” With a slight shift of his divine sense, his body was instantly enveloped in a dense black mist.

Pure Netherworld Ghost Qi began to surge outward in all directions. The Fierce Ghost Army and the Hidden Dragon Army, concealed within Lei Dong’s Grotto-Heaven Paradise, burst forth like tigers escaping their cages. Leading this charge were the Heavenly Demon, Dongfang Fu, Ding Wanyan, Xiao You, Lei Long, and a host of direct, Core Formation stage generals.

Five early Core Formation experts, each clad in meticulously forged black armor, streaked like five black meteors directly toward the Shadow Demon King.

The Shadow Demon King recoiled in shock and roared in fury, “You, how can you possibly also possess…”

“Possessing Innate Spirit Treasures similar to a Soldier Hiding Cave is not something unique to you in this world,” Lei Dong sighed. “Shadow Demon King, you are growing old; you no longer grasp simple truths. Everyone, kill! The Shadow Demon King is correct; we must seize the initiative.”

The Shadow Demon King, having just savored the thrill of ambushing Blood Eagle, never suspected he was the cicada being stalked by the oriole. Although the Shadow Demons had tightly encircled Lei Dong, how elite was Lei Dong’s Hidden Dragon Army? Countless Nascent Soul experts were among them. The Fierce Ghost Army was no simple force either; one hundred thousand strong, they were comparable to the main fighting troops of any race. Unceasingly, they poured out of the Grotto-Heaven Paradise, plunging into the enemy ranks.

Furthermore, the Winged God Clan White Armor Legion, clad in white armor, also revealed a frenzy under Lei Dong’s command, slaying into the mass of Shadow Demons. Their drawn swords sliced white light, bisecting the shadows, which dissolved away in the intense heat.

Even at its zenith, the Shadow Demon Clan’s strength could not compare to Lei Dong’s forces. Let alone now, when only less than twenty thousand remained after the slaughter, and fewer than ten thousand were even present on the field. Under the peerless momentum of Lei Dong’s army, they were immediately forced into a rout, their formation completely shattered. Compared to other races, the Shadow Demon Clan was better suited for ambushes and small-scale engagements; in large-scale frontal battles, their advantages never materialized. Instead, their inferior individual strength often failed to withstand the enemy’s fierce assault.

The Shadow Demon King was not faring well either. Despite possessing the peak power of a mid-stage Core Formation expert, under the joint assault of five Core Formation experts, he could only desperately defend, barely holding on. After all, the Shadow Demon King was extremely adept at assassination, not suited for direct confrontation. Moreover, not long ago, while thoroughly enjoying the torture of Blood Eagle, he had sustained a serious injury from Blood Eagle’s desperate counterattack.

At this moment, he finally knew he was defeated, truly defeated. Yet, unwilling to yield, he began searching for any opportunity to flee. He was highly skilled in various escape techniques, especially spatial (escape arts).

With a desperate final push, the Shadow Demon King forced back Dongfang Fu and instantly transformed into a wispy phantom fog, silently slipping into a spatial rift, attempting to escape using his innate talent.

“I decree that space is frozen,” Lei Dong stood with his hands clasped behind his back, suspended in the air like an aloof, peerless monarch surveying the world. He uttered these few words softly.

Not far away, a seemingly ordinary patch of space, entirely unremarkable, suddenly solidified into a fixed block. Simultaneously, a massive, bronze-hued figure manifested within that location. A colossal metallic hand slammed down with a bang, shattering the solidified space, tightly grasping a struggling shadow, and wrenching it directly back from the fractured void.

The Core Formation puppets forged by Hades in the past were all exquisite creations, and the one controlling this one was Mò Yé, who had seized the primal spirit of a War Giant, assimilating all of its combat experience.

Because of this, Mò Yé could unleash the absolute maximum potential of this Core Formation puppet’s strength. That single punch smashed the solidified space, and the Shadow Demon King was simultaneously struck, sustaining grievous injuries.

The esteemed Shadow Demon King, once a peerless powerhouse, had met this fate. Struggling helplessly within Mò Yé’s massive palm, his efforts were futile. Heavily wounded, his power was no match for the divine strength of the Core Formation puppet.

“Enough. Surrender. The Shadow Demon Clan is a unique race; let us not allow this peculiar species to become extinct entirely,” Lei Dong stated. He was certain that the ten thousand clansmen the Shadow Demon King had left behind to distract the enemy would meet a terrible end at the hands of the enraged King Shengyao.

The Shadow Demon Clan excelled in the Laws of Space and possessed supreme aptitude for stealth, infiltration, and assassination, skills not inferior to the tracking abilities of assassins like Ghost Stab. While ensuring the loyalty of these surrendering Shadow Demons might prove difficult, given the cunning and deceitful nature of races originating from the Abyss, Lei Dong retained faith.

He believed this was merely a product of their harsh environment. Newly born Shadow Demons would be as pure as a blank slate; with proper indoctrination and the infusion of positive ideologies, loyalty to Lei Dong’s ideology could mold them into devoted warriors.

Naturally, these Shadow Demons, who began surrendering amidst the calls for parley, were not entirely useless. Lei Dong intended to test them with the Nine Nether Devourer (ShuShuWu).

If these young Shadow Demons were properly managed, they too could become outstanding scouts and assassins. After all, the bloodline level of this race was quite high; they were an advanced, evolved species.

Seeing their spiritual pillar, the Shadow Demon King, captured, the remaining Shadow Demons who were still fiercely resisting quickly succumbed under the overwhelming assault of Lei Dong’s massive army and the persistent calls for surrender, falling to their knees one by one.

…