The thunderous roar—ten layers of vortex power converged, ravenously sucking in everything. The black blood trailing the blade light immediately traced arcs under the vortex's pull, swiftly drawn into one of the tower gates at the base of the Star Tower. After all, even the true body of the World Beast Morosa could barely stand firm; how could its blood escape?

"World Beast blood!" Luo Feng rejoiced inwardly.

"I study the Life Structure Chart, and I require the blood, fur, and other materials of powerful beings. I've obtained quite a bit of blood and fur from the Jin World... which helped me immensely. However, I'm currently stuck at 89,999 times, and this final step feels like an insurmountable chasm. I hope this World Beast blood will be useful." Luo Feng held his expectation, then momentarily pushed these thoughts aside.

Studying the blood and comprehending the Life Structure Chart were matters for later. The most important thing right now... was killing the World Beast!

The damaged chest of World Beast Morosa bore a gaping hole, leaking black blood, but the wound quickly healed, becoming whole again in an instant. Yet, Morosa stared furiously at Luo Feng in the distance, roaring, "Since I ascended to the Third Stage, besides Bedy, besides Bedy, no one else has ever made me bleed! Not a single one! Vile life form of the Ocean of Universe, you have truly enraged me. Besides Bedy, you are the one I most desire to kill—I will make you die, I will make you die!!!"

Luo Feng's mind immediately churned with numerous thoughts upon hearing this.

Ascended to the Third Stage? Do World Beasts also have stages?

Bedy? There is no True God named Bedy in the Ocean of Universe; could he also be a World Beast?

Luo Feng's consciousness spun with incredible speed, traversing millions of thoughts in an instant, allowing him to deduce the facts with near accuracy.

"Vile life form of the Ocean of Universe? Are you not a life form of the Ocean of Universe yourself?" Luo Feng sneered and charged forward again. "You want me dead? Then I will make you die right now!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Luo Feng seemed to vanish entirely, replaced by golden billows of water that completely enveloped World Beast Morosa, leaving it nowhere to hide. The endless tide of blade light surged and crashed again and again, frantically draining the World Beast's strength, causing it to weaken continuously.

"No!"

"Silver River Lord, stop!" World Beast Morosa suddenly wailed.

"Why should I stop?"

A voice echoed from the surrounding ocean of golden waves encircling World Beast Morosa.

World Beast Morosa shrieked, "Don't force me... This is the last time I advise you, don't force me! If you keep pushing me... there will truly be no room for reconciliation between us; we will fight until one of us perishes."

"We are already fighting until one of us perishes," the voice responded from within the golden waves. The endless tide of blade light continued to erode World Beast Morosa's power. Its strength had already diminished by nearly half since the battle began.

"Good!"

"Human!"

Despair flickered in the single eyes of both heads of World Beast Morosa as it rasped, "You forced this! You are the reason I can never become King. It's you—all of it is because of you..." As the hoarse cry echoed, even Luo Feng, who was attacking relentlessly, sensed something was amiss.

"Burn!"

World Beast Morosa let out a painful, mournful howl—a piercing cry.

Such tragic agony.

More frantically than a strong man severing his own wrist, black tears streamed from both of Morosa's single eyes. Its expression was contorted—ferocious, mad, heartbroken, and sorrowful...

"Boom!!!"

A deafening boom erupted from within World Beast Morosa, and an invisible force surged outward, blasting Luo Feng backward. Simultaneously, speckles of dazzling, brilliant rainbow light began pouring out from inside Morosa's body. This light was so captivating, as if it contained every beautiful color Luo Feng had ever witnessed in his life—a thousand times more breathtaking than any rainbow. The brilliant light rushed out from the World Beast's core.

"What?" Luo Feng's face changed drastically.

Setting aside the inherent power of the light itself, Luo Feng clearly felt... his control over the surrounding void via the technique 'One Thought Void' was diminishing. More accurately, another will was fighting him for mastery over that spatial domain!

One Thought Void represented true control, not merely a retreat of the original will.

Absolute control!

Under his absolute control, methods like instant movement or teleportation were impossible. To contest spatial control with him, one would naturally need to employ the 'One Thought Void' technique themselves, at which point it would depend on whose technique was superior. Alternatively, one would need the strength of an Eternal True God, where a single thought could create a universe, making it far easier to seize control.

Yet, at this moment...

The rainbow light erupting from the World Beast was contending for spatial control.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The radiant, soul-capturing colored light was the most beautiful hue in the universe.

The light formed a dreamlike passage leading to the edge of the void, like a rainbow corridor. This channel of colored light was currently trembling... clearly under pressure from 'One Thought Void,' appearing ready to collapse at any second. This rainbow passage simply could not penetrate the entire range encompassed by One Thought Void.

"Burn further!!!" World Beast Morosa wailed mournfully, "Human, you will regret this, you will regret it! After countless eras spent reaching the Third Stage, you force me back to the First Claw—I will take this revenge, I absolutely will! I will make you regret it—absolutely!"

Swish!

More rich, colored light erupted from its body, merging into the passage of light. Immediately, this brilliant passage extended wildly, soon reaching the farthest limits of the One Thought Void domain. This colored light channel... represented a form of spatial control; Luo Feng's 'Vortex World' possessed absolutely no means to interfere with it, leaving only 'One Thought Void' capable of suppressing it.

When the passage of colored light finally pierced through the scope of One Thought Void, it was already tottering, seemingly on the verge of shattering.

At this moment, the black beast Morosa's aura had weakened to its absolute nadir.

Luo Feng even felt... a single strike could obliterate World Beast Morosa, yet, immersed within that splendid corridor of colored light, Luo Feng's attacks could not breach it; he could only exert maximum pressure via One Thought Void.

"Shatter for me!" Luo Feng pushed with all his might upon One Thought Void, while simultaneously attacking the light passage ferociously.

The passage trembled violently, appearing ready to collapse at any moment.

Swish!

World Beast Morosa instantly transformed into a streak of flowing light, following this corridor of colored light, vanishing in a flash, disappearing entirely from the area covered by One Thought Void. The instant it vanished, Peng-e! the passage of colored light completely disintegrated, immediately fading into nothingness.

The surrounding space held no trace of combat fluctuations, leaving only the sustained presence of the Star Tower's 'Vortex World' and 'One Thought Void.'

Luo Feng stood suspended in the void, feeling somewhat unable to accept the reality.

It actually... actually escaped, despite being in a completely dominant position?

"Disperse," Luo Feng waved his hand, and instantly the Vortex World and One Thought Void vanished.

"Failed, failed again," Luo Feng shook his head.

This battle against the World Beast was the pinnacle of his current combat strength. Moreover, everyone, like the True Lord of the Divine Eye and City Lord of Chaos, knew that his Star Tower had been the primary force throughout the fight. Many True Gods in the Ocean of Universe were likely awaiting the outcome. The previous failure had already dealt a massive blow to the Ocean of Universe.

If this one was also a failure...

For the Ocean of Universe, it would be a nightmare.

"Under spatial lockdown, under One Thought Void, how could it use a method similar to a spatial wormhole to teleport away instantly?" Luo Feng wondered. "Although it resembles a spatial wormhole, more accurately, it's closer to a universe channel!"

Whether it was Divine Kingdom Teleportation or Spatial Teleportation, both involved moving instantly from one point to another.

Only the universe channel involved traversing through a corridor.

That corridor of colored light just now... was also a channel!

"And this World Beast, despite repeated fierce battles, having been severely wounded twice by me and once by Nine Nether, it could always recover quickly," Luo Feng mused. "Just now, forced into desperation, with over half its power depleted, it used that endless blood-light, and maintained it for so long... yet it still seemed reluctant to use that final channel of colored light."

"And it threatened me repeatedly."

"Wanting to negotiate, wanting to threaten—it was unwilling to use its final move," Luo Feng deduced, recognizing the sheer madness and pain in Morosa's roars when it activated that passage of colored light. Luo Feng could sense the hysteria, fury, and despair in that sound alone.

"And it even said it went from the Third Stage back to the First Stage."

Luo Feng pondered.

Ascended to the Third Stage?

Since ascending to the Third Stage, only Bedy had ever made it bleed? This implied that World Beast Morosa had indeed reached the Third Stage within the World Beast Nest. Even after devouring much universe origin in the Ocean of Universe, it should still be Third Stage.

"Third Stage?" Luo Feng muttered. "In the World Beast Nest, its method of strengthening itself is by killing and devouring other World Beasts. Does this mean it must consume other World Beasts to advance? To reach the Third Stage?"

"Is this a fundamental metamorphosis?"

"Its statement about falling from the Third Stage back to the First Stage must be the price for using that passage of colored light." Luo Feng began to dimly understand.

Third Stage likely represented the World Beast's level of growth.

And this growth could only be achieved by devouring other World Beasts—this was the core power of a World Beast. As for other combat strength... even if depleted, it could recover over time. But the core power, he suspected, could not be naturally restored. Otherwise, the World Beast Morosa wouldn't have gone so utterly insane.

In the distant flowing chaos void, an ugly World Beast figure materialized out of thin air.

World Beast Morosa was no longer spirited and powerful; it was merely battered, frail, weak, sorrowful, and desperate.

"Ten billion World Beasts are born, each merely First Stage. I struggled step by step, consuming other World Beasts, killing one after another. Killing other powerful World Beasts and devouring them... I painfully ascended to the Second Stage, and painfully ascended to the Third Stage! Even Bedy is only Third Stage. If I can devour enough universe origin and quickly reach the peak state of the Third Stage, I will have hope of becoming the final King. But now... I, I... I have regressed to my nascent state."

World Beast Morosa had believed coming to the Ocean of Universe was its greatest opportunity, but it turned out to be a catastrophe.