Volume One: The Devil's Nature Never Changes
Arc: The Inheritance of the Immortal Shrine
After some time, the storms inside Scarlet King's internal world weakened, though they did not disappear completely. The Thunder Consequence Law was still active.
Scarlet King thought:
(Wait… I understand the Consequence Laws. Consequence Laws and ordinary laws share the same source and the same form, but they serve different functions.)
(I can extract ordinary laws from the Consequence Laws and place them inside my cosmic world with ease. That is far better than cultivating every law individually, a process that could take thousands, or even millions, of years.)
(However, in the future, I will still need to cultivate those laws before I can control them. But since they will already exist inside my internal world, I will be able to learn them faster and far more effectively.)
(Also, once this Primordial World finishes developing, it will begin separating portions of itself to create other universes. That will give me multiple universes.)
(Then those universes will divide internally and create inner worlds. Those inner worlds will separate portions of themselves to form multiple worlds within them. And those worlds will create inner worlds of their own…)
(And the process will continue endlessly.)
(But not anytime soon. It may take thousands of years.)
Scarlet King immediately created another copy of the Lightning Consequence Law and began separating the ordinary Law of Lightning from the copied law.
After some time, and with tremendous effort, he managed to extract the Law of Lightning from the Lightning Consequence Law.
The Law of Lightning, in turn, brought the Law of Clouds along with it.
A cloud immediately appeared above Scarlet King and released several bolts of lightning in a circular pattern around him.
With a single glance, Scarlet King erased the cloud from the internal world.
Other clouds soon began forming in different regions.
Scarlet King continued thinking:
(This is exhausting and time-consuming. I will continue once we return to the Dimensions.)
(But if I separate a single law, it will pull the other laws subordinate to it along with it. The only exceptions are the fundamental laws, which a separated law cannot draw out.)
(As for the laws beneath it, they will gradually emerge as the law itself develops.)
Scarlet King emerged from his state of enlightenment and unconsciousness.
When he opened his eyes, he discovered that he was now in first place by a considerable margin.
But he immediately felt an overwhelmingly powerful pressure forcing his knees downward.
A concentrated weight of six hundred and sixty-six thousand tons was pressing down on him.
Even so, Scarlet King resisted it and continued advancing, slowly, sweat covering his body.
Behind him, the red-haired boy began annoying him.
"Hey! How did you climb so quickly? Tell me, or I will kill you!"
[Half an Hour Later]
Almost everyone had reached the second section of the staircase. Only one section remained.
And the red-haired boy was still asking.
Everyone suddenly turned toward him and shouted in unison:
"Shut the fuck up!"
The red-haired boy fell silent.
Everyone continued climbing.
Hui Wa thought:
(According to the rules of the trial, after each stage ends, the winners will enter one by one to choose their rewards. Each person may choose only two items.)
(That black-and-white-haired boy is currently in the lead. Although his cultivation is weak, his willpower is overwhelmingly strong.)
[Four Hours Later]
The first eleven participants reached the top.
Among them were:
Guo Tian, the blue-haired man with the massive physique.
Xu Ling, a female Nightkin with tied green hair and red eyes.
Liu Jin, a slender man with black hair tied into a bun.
Lin Hao, the arrogant red-haired boy.
Along with several others, including Liu Zai Hang, Lin Yuan, Ikalat, and Scarlet King—
who had finished in first place.
In a single second, Hui Wa appeared before everyone, having traveled from the bottom of the staircase to the very top almost instantly.
"Alright, congratulations to the winners. You will now enter and claim your rewards from the first trial."
"And the first person will be… the black-and-white-haired boy."
Scarlet King showed no expression.
He merely wiped away his sweat and entered through the enormous door.
Inside was a long chamber.
Eleven items were displayed on each side, twenty-two items in total.
Scarlet King immediately walked forward and stopped before the Tree of Dimensions.
(The Tree of Dimensions?… No. This is only one of its branches.)
(The Tree of Dimensions is the connecting force between all Dimensions, both Demonic and Classical. It exists within the void between the Classical and Demonic Dimensions.)
(Its greatest ability is that it completely and automatically absorbs any form of energy and converts it into the type of energy used by the Dimension.)
(That means if I plant this branch inside my internal world, it will automatically begin absorbing energy.)
(And because the branch will help the world form faster, the separation and emergence of laws will accelerate as well. The tree will begin recognizing whatever the universe lacks.)
(Law Energy? It absorbs energy from outside, converts it into Law Energy, and allows the world to absorb it.)
(The same applies to other forms of energy.)
Scarlet King immediately grabbed the branch and transferred it into his internal world, planting it at the center.
A whirlpool began forming around it, gathering water to nourish the tree.
Scarlet King then created a spiritual copy of himself and assigned it to continuously inject Qi, Ti Yuan Energy, and any other useful form of energy into the tree so that it would grow faster.
The more mature and larger the tree became, the more effective, powerful, and pure its abilities would become.
When Scarlet King returned his awareness to the reward chamber, he suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity.
Warm music was calling to him.
He felt a strange desire to sleep.
Unlike the previous times, when music had simply caused him to fall asleep without resistance, this melody carried a warmth that made him want to sleep.
It soothed Scarlet King's nerves, which had been pushed to their limits by the trial.
When he turned around—
he was struck by tremendous shock.
It was one of the fragments of Ghairamengi Darkness.
The third fragment.
The Soul of Ghairamengi Darkness.
It was responsible for subjugating everything that originated from Ghairamengi Darkness, such as Nothingness, the Void, Primordial Chaos, and others.
Its authority was—
Subjugation.
(The third fragment of Darkness? The Soul of Darkness!? This will be extremely useful!)
(Only eight fragments remain. Most likely, they are gathered together somewhere.)
(But even if I obtain all of them, they will still need time to reunite and adapt to one another so they can return as a single power rather than remain separate powers that enter a dormant state.)
(Still, their source is one. Their source-level power is shared. It is one and will never change except through someone like the Existential Emperor.)
(As for the power outside their source nature, that will require time to return.)
(But how did this get here?)
Suddenly, without Scarlet King even touching it, the Soul left its position.
It immediately entered his body.
Within seconds, Scarlet King broke through six levels, reaching the third level of the Path Initiation Realm.
The restrictions on his three primary Dao Paths were immediately removed:
Dao of Benefit.
Dao of Rebirth.
Dao of Perseverance.
He was also now free to research and cultivate Lesser and Subordinate Paths, which would greatly benefit his internal world.
Scarlet King's soul also advanced to a Heavenly Soul.
Soul types were divided into:
Mortal Soul
Primitive Soul
Earth Soul
Heavenly Soul
Advanced Soul
Fighting Soul
Legendary Soul
Mutating Soul
Superior Soul
Cloud Soul
Eternal Soul
Previously, Scarlet King's soul had merely been a Mortal Soul approaching the Primitive level.
Scarlet King thought:
(Hah. If the power of the Soul of Darkness were not dormant, I would have broken through four entire realms instantly.)
Scarlet King suddenly felt a strange disturbance where the dragon scale had fused into the right side of his chest, near his heart.
The disturbance intensified until the pressure nearly made him vomit.
Scarlet King resisted the urge and left the room.
After he exited, the others entered one after another, with Lin Yuan going last.
Once everyone had left the chamber after obtaining the items they wanted, Hui Wa announced:
"The second trial will require you to either make the beast stop pursuing you or escape from it for one full hour."
Everyone was suddenly transported into a green area filled with rocks and stones, along with a small river flowing in reverse.
An iron cage immediately appeared.
It was made from Cosmic Meteorite Metal, a metal found only within the Eternal Dimensions.
Inside the cage was a Third-Rank Shadow Tiger from the Seventh Dimension.
Scarlet King thought:
(I can deal with it. My dragon aura should be enough to frighten the beast.)
(Dragons are the rulers of natural beasts and the rulers of Heavenly Spirits—but only within the Dimensions.)
(Anything outside the Dimensions is not fully subject to the laws of the Dimensions. That means the Dragon Clan's natural advantage would be useless against beasts that exist outside them.)
(But this is a Shadow Tiger.)
(It belongs to the Dimensions.)
(So I can suppress it with the aura of the Golden Dragon.)