Prologue: Here is the Abyss

There were no clean houses for comfortable living, no hygienic food and water sources, no clothes, and certainly no order. The sky was a hazy gray with no boundaries in sight. There was no sun, no moon, and even fewer stars. Nothing, absolutely nothing. All things of beauty had nothing to do with this place, for this was the abyss, the prison of the universe, and the dwelling place of demons.

The sky remained pitch-black as wisps of clouds condensed from black qi constantly drifted and overlapped, shifting into various shapes with baring fangs and brandishing claws. Streaks of red and purple lightning constantly wove through the rain and mist, and the thunder that rattled the heavens was deafening. Flashes of lightning in various colors kept colliding, bursting out into dazzling white sparks. One could say this was the only thing in the abyss that shared the color of legendary sunlight.

What was sunlight?

Since primordial times, legendary sunlight, beautiful moonlight, and even more enchanting starlight had only ever circulated in the mouths of those Demon Lords. The low-tier Abyss Demons simply did not know what sunlight was, nor did they know what the so-called moonlight actually was. Yet, the yearning for the Sunlight Plane was deeply rooted in the depths of every demon's soul, whether it was the most humble demon-insect or the most magnificent Demon Lord, without exception.

The yearning for the Sunlight Plane and the craving for beautiful things twisted the already cruel, dark, murderous, and perverted demons even more severely. To the selfish demons, those things were more important than their own lives.

Demon Lords, the most powerful demons in the abyss, could pluck stars with their bare hands. A casual strike of theirs would shatter the heavens and split the earth, reverse mountains and rivers, and eclipse the sun and moon. Only Abyss Demons as strong as Demon Lords had the ability to forcefully tear open the spatial-temporal barrier of the abyss and lead tens of thousands of demons to invade the Sunlight Plane.

The most recent invasion of the Sunlight Plane had been tens of millions of years ago. Now, the great Abyssal Will, the incomparably terrifying Demon Lords, and the Abyss Demons were unknown across countless planes. Even the word abyss had already faded away in the long river of time. After all, the time was far too distant, and the demons had stayed in this cage for far too long—so long that yet another reincarnation was approaching.

"Rumble."

Er Dongsheng laboriously moved aside the boulder blocking the cave entrance, slipped out, and stood beside the cave. He looked at the clouds and lightning rolling and weaving endlessly across the pitch-black sky, and furrowed his brow.

It looks like I need to quicken my pace. The rainy season of the abyss is about to come!

With a single step forward, his figure shifted, and he already appeared several dozen meters away. Then, without looking back, he dashed toward the dense, massive mountain forest not far ahead.

Ahead, a boundless sea of forest stretched all the way to the horizon. Viewed from the sky, the colors of these trees were exceptionally gloomy, with some even pitch-black. There was not a shred of the greenness of the Sunlight Plane throughout the entire forest. They were pitch-black, deep purple, dark red, or pitch-black, and some plants even emitted tiny dots of bright color that dotted this massive forest, making this already eerie forest even more unfathomable.

At this moment, large swaths of gray fog drifted through the forest, moving from one place to another. From time to time, one or two bolts of lightning flashed straight down from the sky, snapping one of the trees in half.

Occasionally, one or two trees were struck by lightning and caught fire. Eerily, however, the flames could only spread among those dead trees and caused no damage to the living ones. It seemed these eerie trees also possessed fire-resistant capabilities, living up to their status as abyssal species that stubbornly survived in the abyss.

Er Dongsheng's target was these towering trees destroyed by lightning.

He was looking for food.

Because there was no sunlight, the trees of the abyss could not undergo photosynthesis. Thus, over tens of millions of years, they evolved another set of survival methods: surviving by absorbing the ubiquitous Abyssal Aura. Perhaps there were other plant survival methods, but that was not something Er Dongsheng could know. After all, although he had arrived in this world called the abyss for three years, his maximum range of activity over these three years had been this massive forest not far from where he lived.

This world is too dangerous. When your skills aren't honed yet, it's best to honestly stay put! Er Dongsheng admonished himself this way.

"Crunch, crunch!" Er Dongsheng walked step by step with cautious vigilance toward the destroyed trees not far away, walking and stopping, constantly looking around in all directions. In this world, the slightest carelessness might mean that the next second would be your date with death.

Therefore, caution was never excessive.

Although there was no sun, moon, or starlight in the abyss, it was not pitch-black either. Countless things emitted strong or weak glows. Whether it was soil, rocks, demons, or plants, they all had the ability to emit light. Just like this demon body Er Dongsheng currently possessed, his eyes would emit an eerie blue light, except that demons could control their own glow.

Therefore, the world was merely hazy. Paired with the perverted vision of the demons, it was no different from humans viewing the world in a brightly lit place, and perhaps even surpassed it.

Right at this moment, in a certain corner of the sea of forest, a pitch-black figure was lying motionless in a patch of contiguous, giant grass beside a large tree.

This was a small fellow who was dark all over, only about a meter tall, and stark naked. Patches of tiny, dark-gray scales covered his entire body except for his head. He had a pair of long, pointed ears similar to the Elven race of the Sunlight Plane, and a pair of small, pitch-black horns grew beside his ears just like the horns of a small lamb. A long, smooth black tail constantly swayed behind him, with a tail-tip as sharp and keen as a drill bit.

Er Dongsheng lay quietly in the dense grass. Billowing Abyssal Power boiled around his entire body without spreading outward; this was to guard against any poisonous insects in the grass.

Some poisonous insects in the abyss presented a danger that even surpassed large carnivorous demons. Corroded by Abyssal Power over tens of millions of years, although these insects remained the lowest-tier creatures in the food chain of the abyss, there was no guarantee which insect might have mutated and bred an even more perverted toxicity. If it took a bite out of you, your death truly would be an unfathomable mystery.

Having arrived here for three years, Er Dongsheng had completely inherited this demon's body, including its memories and instincts, and applied them even more skillfully. After all, he used to be an ancient martial arts enthusiast with much richer knowledge. Although he had muddled his way into this world, from the bottom of his heart, this world suited him better.

Staring intently at the tree struck down by lightning ahead, specks of firelight reflected in his pitch-black eyes, Er Dongsheng understood that patience was required right now. Those herbivorous animals would absolutely not let go of this dead abyss tree.

One could say that there were no benevolent species in the abyss, even these seemingly threatless abyss trees.

These tall abyss trees did not possess any offensive power, but they possessed the most formidable defense. The powerful defense on the bark of living abyss trees was difficult to pierce even for powerful First-Tier or Second-Tier Abyss Demons. Perhaps the only things in this forest capable of harming them were the violently tyrannical thunderbolts of the sky.

Perhaps Third-Tier Abyss Demons can, but who knows if that kind of legendary powerful demon truly exists in this massive forest! Even second-tier ones are already legends, let alone higher-level Abyss Demons. He shook his head and sighed.

I haven't even reached the first tier yet. For now, I should still strive to reach the first tier first.