The Demon King Zhagu’s roaring laughter abruptly ceased, replaced by an expression of utter shock on his hideous face.

He could not see that Lei Dong, beneath the Black Emperor Armor, had undergone a complete transformation. The Emperor Demon Seed on his forehead glowed, emerging like an intensely bewitching and sinister third eye. Even more profound was the change in his gaze—ancient and fathomless, vast and peerless like the boundless cosmos.

This was the essence of the third inheritance bestowed by the Demon Emperor: the third level of the Celestial Demon Transformation. The previous two transformations, Peerless Supremacy and Reigning Over All, had already offered Lei Dong countless aids during his growth. On numerous occasions, it was thanks to the Celestial Demon Transformation that he had successfully navigated peril and overcome one catastrophe after another.

The first two transformations, Peerless Supremacy, focused heavily on vastly enhancing physical strength, unleashing all latent power within Lei Dong’s body in a short span, causing his combat power to surge momentarily. Furthermore, due to his initially poor aptitude, Lei Dong had utilized Peerless Supremacy to rapidly burn off the potency of medicinal substances while cultivating.

Reigning Over All was another extremely useful transformation, capable of significantly boosting Lei Dong’s divine sense intensity. Its most extreme manifestation was the enhancement it provided to the True Word Arts. In the state of Reigning Over All, the power of the True Word Arts Lei Dong cast differed immensely compared to when he was not in that state.

Evidently, the third transformation must have merged the benefits of the previous two.

Not merely merged, this third stage also offered an extreme amplification of the benefits from the first two. In reality, it was only because Lei Dong’s cultivation had reached this specific echelon that he could deploy the third transformation. Otherwise, if it had been passed down to him prematurely, attempting to use it rashly would have meant certain death.

The third transformation: Dominating Heaven and Earth.

It was an extremely domineering, ultimate transformation. In terms of power enhancement, it integrated the advantages of Peerless Supremacy while simultaneously purging its flaws. When Lei Dong previously activated Peerless Supremacy, he was generally in a state of extreme lack of control. Under that state, all power within his body would involuntarily be drawn out and consumed in a blaze, drastically elevating his strength.

Under Dominating Heaven and Earth, this phenomenon was internalized. Only when Lei Dong consciously moved or acted would he draw upon the power within his body, igniting it into explosive momentum. Moreover, he could halt the process at any moment, or reignite it.

Furthermore, compared to the Reigning Over All state, Dominating Heaven and Earth provided a much more stable and profound enhancement to divine sense. Lei Dong’s divine sense intensity had already reached the level of a peak ordinary Void Refinement expert. Even using just Reigning Over All, his divine sense intensity would break its limits, roughly matching an early Integration Stage expert.

But under the boost of Dominating Heaven and Earth, his divine sense clearly ascended another substantial step, nearly equating to a super-expert at the mid-Integration Stage. With such terrifying divine sense, a single thought might paralyze a Nascent Soul expert, let alone casting a True Word Art.

Moreover, the Dominating Heaven and Earth state inherently possessed the effect of enhancing and increasing the power of True Word Arts. This caused Lei Dong’s True Word Arts to approach the state of "words becoming law." That Bone-Clinging Demon Cord indeed could bind an early Integration Stage expert momentarily; its power was extraordinary. But under Lei Dong’s near "words becoming law," reflecting the will of the universe, the Demon Cord was easily shattered.

“You…” Demon King Zhagu’s face paled in alarm, for he could now clearly sense that the aura emanating from the young man was completely different. Power and divine sense were continuously climbing, effortlessly piercing past the aura of the Void Refinement stage and straight into the level of the Integration Stage. His divine sense was even more immense, nearly matching a mid-Integration Stage expert.

Demon King Zhagu couldn't help but curse loudly. Had this brat’s performance of feigning weakness been overdone? After all, when this kid first appeared, he presented himself with the strength level of a high-stage Nascent Soul expert. Then, after tricking several of his beloved generals, he revealed the aura of a mid-stage Void Refinement expert.

But he never expected that at this final juncture, the brat would unleash an imposing aura only possessed by an Integration Stage cultivator. The Demon King did not know that Lei Dong's actual cultivation was still only mid-stage Void Refinement. The so-called Integration Stage aura was due to the augmentation from the Dominating Heaven and Earth state.

Once the latent power hidden within his body was fully unleashed, the formidable aura he projected was comparable to the Integration Stage. Of course, the Dominating Heaven and Earth state was not invincible. Once he exhausted all his power, he would revert to his original form.

“Good lad, you hid yourself quite deeply.” Demon King Zhagu let out a string of cold laughs: “But do you think that with the strength of an early Integration Stage, you can pull off this sheep-in-wolf’s-clothing act against me, the Great Strength Demon King? Heh heh, let me tell you an unfortunate truth. Among those of the same rank, we High-Tier Demons are invincible.”

“Invincible?” Lei Dong scoffed coldly: “When I was at the Golden Core stage, I killed a High-Tier Demon.”

“Impossible.” Demon King Zhagu’s expression drastically changed; he simply did not believe Lei Dong’s words. The Great Strength Demon Sword slashed down with ferocious dominance, tearing open the void. Simultaneously, the demonic energy around him surged, transforming into thousands of demonic blades that spun continuously, attempting to shred Lei Dong into dust.

“Great Strength Demon King?” Lei Dong stood with hands clasped behind his back, his figure flickering constantly, easily weaving among the demonic blades. He sneered repeatedly: “I can tell you specialize in brute force. A pity, you possess all that strength but don't know how to use it.”

“Roar!” Demon King Zhagu, seeing his attacks repeatedly miss and feeling humiliated, roared continuously. The Great Strength Demon Sword swung frantically, shattering the meteorite beneath his feet with its slicing power: “Brat, you push things too far!”

Lei Dong couldn't be bothered to deal with him further. He pointed his fingers like a sword and stabbed out into the air. The Immortal Slaying Finger shot forth like a streak of pitch-black sharp light from a distance. Under the Dominating Heaven and Earth state, Lei Dong’s comprehensive strength, in terms of explosive output, was elevated to the early Integration Stage.

The power of one Netherworld Immortal Slaying Finger increased several times over. With a 'pu' sound, it pierced into the Demon King’s shoulder, the force penetrating straight through, leaving a hole the size of a water bucket.

“Brat, do you think you can kill this King with just one move?” Demon King Zhagu roared repeatedly, his demonic energy surging as the wound healed instantly.

High-Tier Demons were indeed powerful and terrifying. It was true; they could use the trace of life factor sequence remaining in their core essence to forcibly convert the flesh and blood of a host body into a demonic body. Forget small wounds healing; regeneration was effortless.

However, Lei Dong understood a principle: everything must come at a cost. Healing wounds invariably required demonic energy, necessitating the expenditure of their power. No one could defy the law of conservation of energy—not even a Supreme Being, let alone an Integration Stage cultivator.

“Hmph, if your recovery is strong, then try this.” Lei Dong brought his two fingers together again and shot out another stream of finger energy. But unlike before, this finger energy incessantly flared, forming a pitch-black, sharp blade dozens of yards long atop Lei Dong’s fingers.

Lei Dong flickered, appearing agilely and cunningly behind Zhagu, slashing downward like a sword. Demon King Zhagu was greatly startled and hastily shifted his body to evade. However, the finger-sword, laced with a significant amount of Annihilation Law, sliced off one of Demon King Zhagu’s arms as if encountering no resistance.

Amidst painful roars, Demon King Zhagu’s demonic energy surged, and soon a complete, healthy arm grew back. But it was clear that growing a new limb would consume a vast amount of his stored energy. At this moment, the Demon King’s aura weakened considerably, and his expression showed panic and apprehension.

This person before him was simply too powerful. He clearly possessed the aura of an early Integration Stage expert, yet why was his movement technique so sharp, and the power of his spells unbelievably strong? His spells subtly seemed to contain a thread of something that caused him deep dread.

“As expected, your recovery is strong; you can even regrow a severed arm.” Beneath the Black Emperor Armor, he laughed coldly: “What I told you just now was the truth. A large body does not equate to might. Also, you claimed your High-Tier Demons are invincible among peers. But I have some unwelcome news for you: I, Lei Dong, always prefer to kill those a whole level higher than me. I am Void Refinement, you are Integration Stage; that is all.”

“Impossible, you clearly are—” Demon King Zhagu refused to believe he was only at the Void Refinement level.

“I can’t be bothered to argue with you, nor waste time playing games.” Lei Dong knew the power within him was rapidly dissipating. After all, as formidable as the Dominating Heaven and Earth state was, its consumption of his power was exaggerated, and the burden on his body was extremely heavy. It was only because Lei Dong’s body had been repeatedly tempered by the Underworld King’s Body Tempering Art during his advancement to the Void Refinement stage that his physical constitution far surpassed that of ordinary peers.

Otherwise, how could he so easily sustain the Dominating Heaven and Earth state? When the Demon Emperor initially passed the inheritance to him, he factored in Lei Dong’s Void Refinement cultivation as barely sufficient for its use. But that was intended for moments of life-or-death crisis. According to the Demon Emperor’s estimation, his successor at the Void Refinement stage could sustain Dominating Heaven and Earth for perhaps ten breaths—enough for a critical juncture.

However, perhaps even the Demon Emperor himself could not have imagined that his successor across generations would be such an aberrant monster among monsters. Due to many factors, he had already surpassed the Demon Emperor.

“I say, time stops.” With divine sense intensity comparable to a mid-Integration Stage expert, Lei Dong unhesitatingly decided to sample the might of the Law of Time.

Suddenly, the towering Demon King, several dozen yards high, was instantly paralyzed by the effect of the time stop, frozen on the spot as if paused. Lei Dong vanished in an instant, appearing behind him, his arm massively enlarged, poised to stab toward the Demon King’s head.

But within the scope of the effect, Lei Dong was also subject to the influence of the Law of Time. Consequently, his hand paused just outside. The moment the time stop ended, Lei Dong’s hand shot straight into the Demon King’s head.