Chapter 536

Chapter 536: The Rapid Growth of Lack of Shadow

True essence fundamentally denies the concept of undying nature; it is not a force that needs physical contact to spread.

The approach of decapitating the head and discarding the body is not feasible; to survive, one must counter the true essence with equal power.

This is unreasonable. The reason why demons are powerful lies in their various bloodline abilities and their bodies, which are strengthened countless times compared to humans.

The stronger the body, the more power it can hold. A human prodigy possesses strength of one hundred, while a demon of the same level has one million.

The human body is inherently weaker than that of demons; this is the price for any child of their group to possess intelligence—extremely intricate and fragile.

Humans can contend with demons by relying on Heavenly Path Spiritual Laws, the power of the three heavens, magical treasures, formations, talismans, and spirit pills…

“This disaster beast’s total energy is far inferior to mine; it cannot achieve qualitative change for victory, yet it has erased the effect of the True Laws.”

Wanqing never thought that he would be surpassed by a disaster beast. Just one disaster beast, yet it countered him, a superior being, at a lower level.

This is simply unbelievable. Is it an individual with the bloodline of a celestial demon?

Could it even possess the bloodline of the Monster King?

After the Heavenly Sovereign’s demise, has there been such a quick response from demons or human forces sending celestial demons for probing?

For most powers, only the strongest rulers gaze at the Swirling Clouds while the rest may be sacrificed; it is just a matter of probability.

However, a celestial demon with such unique abilities would certainly make it to the life restriction list of the Grand Demon Judgment Court, right?

To casually let such a special individual be sacrificed would either imply that this is not a unique individual but rather one of many, or that they belong to a formidable force that does not care about such special individuals.

Regardless, for the Nine Star Heavenly Sect, this is not good news. With the Heavenly Sovereign gone, if they do not discover something soon, no one will easily back down.

Moreover, the Heavenly Sovereign’s demise was orchestrated; even the Dragon Scale Sovereign fell because of it. This marks the first Sovereign to fall after the Monarch’s departure, which is a loss the Heavenly Sect cannot overlook. Even worse, due to the Heavenly Sovereign’s death, the Divine General on Earth self-destructed, leaving them permanently without the ability to reclaim their powers—losing a seat of Sovereign forever…

Wanqing has always known that the Nine Star Heavenly Sect is at a crucial juncture; otherwise, he wouldn’t have brought Lack of Shadow to meet the Sovereign when he could have deduced their situation.

Yet, his sense of crisis was vague. He still believed that the Nine Star Heavenly Sect was invincible and would not falter in such a minor storm.

However, the emergence of Lack of Shadow pressed against his warning line. It was then that he comprehended what the Nine Star Heavenly Sect was about to face.

There was no time for hesitation; he needed to act decisively and resolve the issue at once.

“Kill!”

Divine light burst forth, Wanqing’s core method being Physical Law. Although his True Essence gathered three powers, the main focus relied on Physical Law. Thus, he swung the Star Piercing Spear, engaging in close combat with Lack of Shadow. Each strike of the spear obliterated large chunks of the Flying Zombie’s body, demonstrating remarkable efficiency in destruction.

He opted for close combat because this was the quickest way to strike the target and the Star Piercing Spear functioned at its strongest state.

If he shot from a distance, while possible, the power would diminish in that process; even a slight reduction would be exceedingly apparent to top-tier opponents like them. Not to mention that the Star Piercing Spear is an incredibly unstable creation, unable to remain outside his control for an extended period.

The farther the distance, the more mental focus and True Essence he would need to expend, while the force would correspondingly decline—making this scenario naturally more suitable for close combat.

But what shocked Wanqing was that initially, he could poke a large hole, but with the second strike, the disaster beast had grown stronger; the hole shrank by at least a third. As he continued, it began to react, matching his speed and forcing him to exert even more power to land a hit.

It was growing too fast!

The more power he used, the faster this disaster beast grew—there seemed to be no end to it!

It was as if he, the prodigy, was feeding the disaster beast attacks, urging it to evolve endlessly. Even when he used all his strength with the determination to kill it in one strike, the disaster beast would still survive and then grow again.

Where does your evolutionary energy come from?

What direction is your evolution taking?

This extraordinary phenomenon made Wanqing suddenly realize… violating common sense; isn’t that the embodiment of power?

The strength of those in the Honored Position can even bend the laws of reality. Could it be that this disaster beast possesses the power of authority, negating the costs of evolution?

If this is true, could this not represent a possibility for advancement to the Honored Position?

A brilliant light ignited in Wanqing’s eyes, revealing an intense desire; at this moment, his goal had become independent of the Heavenly Sect and others.

The Honored Position!

Unlike other realms that can be reached simply with resources and spirit energy, this is a realm that requires obtaining power.

Even within the entire Nine Star Heavenly Sect, there are only five qualifying positions. In other words, no matter how powerful it becomes, the Nine Star Heavenly Sect can only have five honored beings.

Currently, this number has dropped to four.

There is no doubt that at the level of the Honored Position, unless one dies naturally, no one would willingly step down.

To be realistic, even if one did pass away, there are still numerous qualified individuals; Wanqing has no confidence in securing this sole opportunity.

Compared to the hellish challenge of competing against the heavenly prodigies within the Sect, the opportunity before him feels much simpler; at least for now, this disaster beast has not yet evoked the sense of despair he experiences when facing the Sect’s extraordinary figures.

“Ancestral artifact, lend me your power!”

Wanqing raised his hand.

He gripped the sword-shaped Dao artifact tightly, drawing upon its resonance, causing the ancestral artifact’s phantom to materialize, elevating the Dao artifact to a level that could eliminate True Disciples.

Only power can counter power; everything beneath the Honored Position is like ants, and the Dao artifact is a form of power, with a very high priority!

“Slash!”

Wanqing’s Dao artifact, bearing its true name, possessed destructive power, of course directed toward humans, while it could only suppress demons and could not annihilate them.

Lack of Shadow hesitated for a moment; indeed, it was effective, as its power was massively suppressed. However, the rules of slaughter belong to the World God, and the domain-level Dao artifact could not erase it; it continued to resist and evolve. Even if its speed had slowed significantly, it remained a despairing opponent, with its potential bursting forth continuously under pressure.

The creations of the Ten Heavenly Arts, even if only crudely inserted with possibility, are not something mere True Realm beings can suppress; the real hypothetical enemy is the Honored Position.

“Ascension of the Heavenly Path!”

Wanqing activated the power of the Ascension of the Heavenly Path, his form changing little.

As a perfect True Disciple, he could now stabilize the control of this power, choosing the necessary bloodline for ascension; this time, he elevated the Spirit Law.

He recognized that the essence of the Flying Zombie is, in fact, Lack of Shadow; he must kill every particle of Lack of Shadow to claim victory.

Otherwise, it would be an endless cycle until he was utterly beyond control, forced to seek help from the honored beings, missing this chance to advance to the Honored Position.

“Great Annihilation, I seek the true essence!”

“Compassion is my true self!”

Wanqing brought his hands together, his expression serene, but a terrifying power, starkly contrasting his appearance, rose around him, transforming into a demonic figure. This figure had eight arms, a grotesque face, and protruding fangs, with a pitch-black hollow opening in its chest—eerily unusual.

As the demonic figure manifested, it drew the power of annihilation to envelop the Flying Zombie. The latter used the power of space to attempt escape, but it was in vain and was pulled back to its original position.