Outside the Demon God Palace, ripples of spatial distortion swelled into existence, and from within, a rolling tide of black energy slowly emerged. As this dark mist appeared, the entire sky above the Dark Demon Sea fell silent; even the tumbling, swirling clouds seemed to hold their breath.
Within the churning black fog, the faint sound of thunder rumbled, shaking the heart. Even the crowds gathered millions of kilometers away felt their hearts pound against their ribs, as if every pore and patch of skin were screaming in alarm.
A vague, shadowy figure materialized within the black miasma, standing utterly still, like the supreme ruler of heaven and earth, radiating an arrogant aura. The space around him twisted and warped, becoming mysterious and impossible to look at directly.
After this figure appeared, he looked down from above at the surging, monstrous Demon Sea below and the colossal city standing upon it. In an instant, he swept his massive hand, and the boundless expanse of time and space roared as it split open. The void tore apart, revealing flashes of lightning and thunder within, while wisps of ethereal, ash-white vapor drifted out, from which slowly emerged a divine weapon radiating terrifying might!
It was a bronze spear!
The spear was stained with ancient blood, exuding an aura of profound antiquity and an unstoppable ferocity that caused the very void to tremble slightly. It rose slowly from the depths of space, the surrounding emptiness spreading out like water ripples, carrying a sharp, sky-piercing momentum.
The figure in the black fog raised a hand. As if sensing the gesture, the spear hummed and shot toward him, piercing the void, slicing through time and space, and settling into the figure’s large grasp.
Holding the spear, he stood like an ancient demon god. Staring at the venerable Demon God Palace, two streams of chilling light flared in his eyes. Suddenly, he hefted the spear and hurled it forth.
Boom!
The entire void swelled with a massive disturbance, the intangible emptiness receding to the sides. The spear moved with the swiftness of lightning, appearing like a comet crashing from the heavens, dragging a long, thunderous tail. Seemingly slow yet impossibly fast, it streaked toward the tallest spire of the Demon God Palace’s central structure.
The core control system of the entire Demon God Palace was instantly thrown into chaos, flashing incessantly with streams of information symbols.
“Alert! Alert!”
“Powerful threat approaching! Six-millionths of a second remaining until contact with the energy shield! Countdown initiated…”
“Activate maximum defense protocols!”
“Switch to emergency processing status!”
“Initiate Cosmic Teleportation!”
The entire Demon God Palace convulsed like a startled beast. Its surface energy shield flared brilliantly, becoming dazzling and magnificent. The massive base of the palace, submerged in the Dark Demon Sea, suddenly activated its primary thrusters. A flash of light erupted across its surface, and at the precise moment the ancient bronze spear approached, the Demon God Palace gathered the surrounding energies of heaven and earth, bursting into a brilliant flash of light. When the light subsided, it vanished without a trace.
Rumble~
The bronze spear plunged straight down. The brow of the figure in the black fog twitched. The spear was meant to strike the Dark Demon Sea, and with its power, such a direct impact would have devastated the entire region. However, with a mere thought from the figure in the black fog, the bronze spear dissipated into nothingness, impaling instead a parallel dimension.
“Cosmic Teleportation?” The eyes of the figure in the black fog gleamed with cold light. “You cannot escape!” With a movement, he disappeared.
In the infinite darkness, a colossal city spanning millions of kilometers, exuding an ancient aura, hurtled forward at speeds many times greater than light, surpassing the velocity of wormholes and spatial jumps—it was flying in a state equivalent to a negative world plane. Every leap covered a distance equal to one ten-thousandth the size of an initial minor cosmos.
Behind this massive city, a sharp bronze spear, thousands of kilometers long, cold and piercing, sliced through countless spatial layers, severing all spatial resistance, pursuing relentlessly.
Standing atop the tip of this spear was a figure shrouded entirely in black mist, his face obscured. With one hand resting behind his back, he stared coldly at the grand city ahead, showing no hint of relaxation.
A city, a spear, one man—one fleeing, the other pursuing.
During this chase, the major systems of the Demon God Palace were all running on maximum alert, particularly the energy core, which was operating at full capacity to sustain the palace’s flight speed.
In the pursuit, the sharp bronze spear slowly closed the distance, inch by inch. Approximately one month passed, and it was nearing the Demon God Palace, only one light-year away—a negligible distance for figures of this caliber, merely the blink of an eye.
Just as the pursuer was about to catch up, the Demon God Palace once again activated "Cosmic Teleportation," instantly stretching the distance between them.
The figure in the black fog remained utterly unhurried, his icy eyes holding a trace of a sneer. “The relic from the last Great Saint War. After so many years, let’s see how long your energy reserves can sustain this ‘Cosmic Teleportation.’”
Even he would hesitate to expend the energy required for a single Cosmic Teleportation.
As time drifted on…
Inside the Demon God Palace, within the endless void of stars.
Black energy billowed within a miniature black hole. There was no light, nothing else—only infinite blackness. Within this dark mass, there were minute particles, visible to the naked eye like fireflies, though they could only be seen if one entered the black hole.
These tiny gray particles drifted throughout the vortex, thinnest near the entrance and densest deep within.
Seated cross-legged within this black hole was a middle-aged man with a shock of long, disheveled black hair and a heavy beard, looking weathered and carrying a deep sense of world-weariness.
The small gray particles swirled around his body. Some of the pale gray motes, upon approaching him, were drawn into his pores as if a powerful magnet resided within him.
After sitting cross-legged for a while, Ye Chen slowly opened his eyes. They were as clear as water, ancient and untroubled, as if he had seen through everything in the world. Behind his head, a radiance began to form, solidifying into a great halo of golden wisdom, much like the nimbus behind Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
In the lightless depths of the black hole, this glow was intensely bright and searing, dispelling all darkness. Yet, the light was peaceful and steady, suffused with tranquility, inspiring a settling of the mind and granting sudden insight to anyone who looked upon it.
Ye Chen’s gaze was calm and composed, without a single flicker, possessing a stillness that was unsettling.
“After these 100 years of tempering, my state of mind has finally broken through from the eighth stage of the Sage of Wisdom realm to the initial stage of the Saint realm!” Ye Chen rose slowly, stepping forward, his entire being radiating profound enlightenment, as if all suffering, pain, greed, anger, delusion, and resentment had been shed.
“One hundred years here, and only about a month has passed outside,” Ye Chen observed the black hole before him. “I wonder how much more my body can absorb of this ancient dark matter.”
He strode forward a thousand zhang, reaching a point where resistance became futile, activating his superhuman mode to proceed further.
As the pores of his skin contracted, the surrounding gray particles in the black hole were forcefully drawn in, sucked into his body through his pores. After these particles entered, Ye Chen felt waves of energy flood his system; his skin grew stronger, and the metamorphosis of his genes accelerated.
In these 100 years, his genetic structure had evolved from five times that of a baseline human to twenty times!
In other words, though his physical strength level was still rated at 990,000, his actual power and physical capabilities were equivalent to nearly 20 million times that of a regular human! Pure physical strength in an arm-wrestling match would equal that of a minor deity!
As he traveled deeper, the gravitational pull intensified, but the gray particles only grew more numerous, seemingly unaffected by gravity as they drifted freely within the black hole.
Time flowed…
120 years, 150 years, 200 years…
In the blink of an eye, five centuries passed.
A figure as solid and steady as a mountain sat cross-legged within the black hole, surrounded by swirling currents of black energy. This silhouette possessed a wild mane of black hair, maintaining the appearance of a vigorous middle-aged man; his hair was lustrous black, showing not a single strand of white, testament to his enduring vitality.
“Ding!”
A clear chime sounded in Ye Chen’s ears. It was the only other sound he had heard in five hundred years. Over such a vast span, he had nearly forgotten how to speak, yet fortunately, his powerful physique maintained his bodily functions.
“Congratulations, you have passed the inheritance trial. You are now officially the master of the Demon God Palace. Please proceed to the Inheritance Hall to await the Master’s bestowal!”
The sweet voice of the system echoed beside Ye Chen’s ear.
Ye Chen slowly opened his eyes, gazing at the black hole yawning endlessly before him. He rose slowly, feeling the surrounding gray particles swirling around his skin, some clinging to the surface but unable to penetrate further.
Whoosh!
His figure flashed, vanishing instantly, drawn away by a mysterious energy. The world devoid of starlight and the lightless black hole instantly returned to desolate silence.
Ye Chen felt a warm, comfortable sensation enveloping him, like gentle water caressing every inch of his skin—a comfort beyond measure.
He opened his eyes.
Before him lay a magnificent, opulent hall. Small ornaments hung on the walls—golden dragon motifs and trinkets—though most of these decorations were actually divine artifacts, intricately carved with dense patterns of cosmic law.
Above the hall stretched a world of dazzling starlight, seemingly allowing one to gaze directly down upon the entire universe. Below the hall, the rare, color-shifting metal of outer space reflected the celestial panorama above, creating an astonishingly beautiful scene.
Ye Chen looked ahead, where a crystal orb floated suspended in mid-air, enveloped by a luminous aura that radiated a captivating light.
In this vast hall, Ye Chen was alone. Amidst the profound silence, the light halo began to shift and transform, and a nearly transparent, illusory figure drifted out, like a projected image.
It was a powerfully built man, majestic in stature, with brows as sharp as blades, his features bearing an aura of world-shattering battle intent, resembling a peerless overlord—fierce, brutal, and profoundly intimidating.
Even with Ye Chen’s current state of mind, seeing this figure caused him to involuntarily stumble back three steps, battling a primal urge to fall to his knees in worship. He forced himself to suppress it, biting his lip until the sting brought him back to lucidity.
At this moment, the magnificent man slowly spoke, “My successor, I am overjoyed that you have managed to arrive here. I do not know how many epochs and eras have passed since then. Remember this: my true name is Wanren Xiong [Ten Thousand Man Hero]! This name was not chosen by myself, but forged during my conquest of the ancient world, achieved by stacking the corpses and blood of ten thousand God Emperors!”