137: A Lament for All Realms: The Mad Overture
The three words "Star Shattering Realm" were like three shackles wrapped in endless ice and despair, firmly locking down Liu Qingtian's Demonic Soul. The looming shadow of Luo Jiuxuan's impending Breakthrough was no longer a distant cloud, but a sharp sword hanging overhead, its tip already touching his brow.
Time became the most luxurious yet most malicious curse.
Step-by-step devouring, cautious experimentation, slow exploration of that paradoxical power... all of this became a ridiculous and futile slow motion in the face of Luo Jiuxuan, who was about to achieve the Star Shattering Realm Breakthrough. He needed power, massive amounts of Origin power capable of triggering a qualitative change in a short time! He needed a shortcut, one that, even if covered in thorns and leading to the abyss, was fast enough!
The reins of reason completely snapped at this moment, replaced by the most primitive and violent predatory instinct from the depths of his demonic nature, magnified infinitely by the imminent survival crisis.
His Demonic Consciousness radiated with unprecedented intensity and breadth. He stopped fine-tuning his search, stopped considering "cost-effectiveness," and locked onto only the most direct goal—quantity! Enough Minor Thousand Worlds!
"Not enough! Far from enough!" he roared. The spatial power of the Profound Void Realm was driven to its limit, his figure flickering repeatedly across the starscape. Every appearance signaled the end of a world home to billions of living beings.
The first target was a verdant world, sparse in Spiritual Qi and mainly composed of Mortal kingdoms.
Liu Qingtian's figure, like an apocalyptic meteor, directly smashed through the fragile Realm wall. He didn't even fully manifest his Demonic Body, merely scattering the "Myriad World Roots" like a plague. Countless dark red roots, like living entities, plunged into the earth, pierced the oceans, and extended into cities and villages.
Wherever the roots passed, vegetation instantly withered and died, rivers dried up to their beds, and birds, beasts, and even the bustling Mortals in the cities were instantly drained of their essence of flesh and blood and meager souls, turning into skeletal dust before they could even scream. The world's Origin Spiritual Veins were forcibly extracted, letting out an unbearable wail. The earth cracked into bottomless ravines, and the sky lost its color, becoming gray and dead silent.
In the time it takes an incense stick to burn, this vibrant world was completely transformed into a desert devoid of any life signs. Liu Qingtian felt the Origin power surging into his body, yet far from enough to satisfy the needs of his Profound Void Realm Demonic Body. Without even twitching his brow, his figure vanished, rushing toward the next coordinates.
The second was a world that had developed a low-level cultivation civilization.
The Cultivators of this realm attempted to resist. Countless Flying Swords, Magic Treasures, and Daoist Magic radiance surged toward the sky-shrouding demonic shadow like fireflies swimming against the current. But before the absolute power of the Xuanxu Demon Venerable, all of it appeared so pale and powerless. The Wither and Flourish Star Annihilation Domain merely expanded slightly, and all the Daoist Magic radiance was extinguished like candles in the wind. The Cultivators' Physical Bodies and Divine Souls rapidly aged and disintegrated within the Annihilation Concept. The core Spiritual Mountain of the world was uprooted, the Spiritual Veins forcibly extracted, and the entire structure of the world began to collapse, star-like fragments drifting into the cold Void Realm.
Plunder, devour, leave. His actions were mechanical and efficient, devoid of emotion, driven only by the greed for "quantity."
The third, the fourth, the fifth... Liu Qingtian transformed into a storm of death sweeping across the star sea. He was no longer confined to a single Star Domain, but relied on his Profound Void Realm's spatial traversal ability, leaping frantically, targeting Minor Thousand Worlds that were far from major power centers and weakly defended.
Some worlds were purely plant kingdoms. The consciousness of giant ancient trees emitted silent sorrow as the roots invaded, and immediately the entire forest turned to ash.
Some worlds were dominated by water bodies. Billions of aquatic creatures floated belly-up under the demonic might, and the oceans visibly grew murky, dead silent, and finally dried up.
Some worlds had only recently developed sentience and were still in the primitive tribal era, yet they welcomed complete darkness in their ignorance.
Wails, prayers, curses, desperate resistance... these sounds, which once could have stirred his Dao Heart before it shattered, were now completely overlaid by the roar of the Demonic Technique's operation and the cold feedback of his internal power's slow growth. In his Demonic Pupils, there was only a bottomless dark red, reflecting one annihilated star after another.
Occasionally, when devouring the Origin of a certain world, a trace of extremely faint, almost imperceptible Karma power would merge into his Demonic Body like an illusion. The mere existence of some worlds perhaps obstructed a certain "balance" in the surrounding Star Domain, and the Heavenly Dao, with its cold rules, once again provided "reward" for this act of destruction.
Liu Qingtian was indifferent to this. Whether it was Karma (merit) or Karma (sin), as long as it could be devoured and converted into power, he would accept it all! He even began intentionally guiding these meager traces of Karma power into the willow leaf grotto-heaven where the paradoxical experiments were underway, intensifying the conflicts within, attempting to squeeze every possible ounce of power during the destruction interval.
With the infusion of countless world Origins into his Demonic Body, the Myriad Bone Demonic Runes grew deeper, as if the sorrowful souls of countless worlds were struggling and roaring within them. The vengeful spirit willow became more solidified, and the surrounding resentment almost materialized into black liquid. The scope of the Wither and Flourish Star Annihilation Domain was also slowly expanding, and the Annihilation Concept began to mix with more atmospheres of decay and finality generated by the collapse of worlds.
His power was growing, clearly visible.
But Liu Qingtian felt no joy. He could sense that this accumulation of pure quantitative change was still too inefficient for a Profound Void Realm Cultivator! It was like filling a massive lake with sporadic rainwater—it might eventually overflow, but Luo Jiuxuan would not grant him that "eventually"!
"Too slow! Still too slow!" he roared anxiously in the Void during a pause in his devouring. Beneath his feet was a rocky planet he had just drained, which was slowly disintegrating, having never even hosted life.
He needed more concentrated, vaster, and more extreme Origin power!
His gaze turned toward the depths of the star map, towards coordinates labeled "Deadly Grounds" and "Life Restricted Zones." These were areas that even Tianhua Realm Cultivators were secretive about and dared not easily tread. Rumors claimed some were remnants of the Ancient Battlefield, some were naturally formed Spiritual Desolate Hazards, and others were home to unimaginably ancient existences.
The danger was undeniable. But the vast Origin power or strange energies they might contain, far surpassing those of the Minor Thousand Worlds, were equally tempting.
"Only in the Deadly Grounds is there a sliver of hope..." The madness in Liu Qingtian's Demonic Pupils settled, transforming into a more chilling determination. He no longer hesitated, locking onto the nearest Deadly Ground coordinate, named the Eye of Guixu.
For the last time, he glanced back at the corners of the starscape behind him, countless places dimmed and dead silent because of him. The Myriad World Elegy had once echoed there; now, only the prelude to his next, even crazier destruction remained.
The demonic shadow tore open space, carrying monstrous Karma (sin) and a trace of ominous golden Karma (merit) light, charging resolutely toward the dark region where even starlight seemed to be swallowed.
His time was running out, and the staircase of corpses beneath his feet was still far from high enough.