Fiend Castle, four-star mission area.
Lin Yinuo's gaze swept across the light screen before settling on a mission entry so scarlet it was almost black. Its difficulty rating stood out starkly-five stars!
[Five-Star Mission: Hunt the Blackwater Profound Serpent] [Mission description: The Blackwater Profound Serpent dwells deep within Despair Swamp. Its estimated strength is that of a peak Five-Star Fiend (it has fully comprehended the Profound Mystery of the Water Body Technique within the Laws of Water Elements, and its divine body is formidable and nearly immortal). Its venom can corrode divine sparks, and its innate ability, Blackwater Cage, contains soul attacks, making it extremely dangerous. Recently, it has frequently attacked passing caravans and deity-level beings, causing the deaths of at least three Four-Star Fiends.] [Mission requirement: Obtain the Blackwater Profound Serpent's crystal core or confirm its death.] [Mission reward: 8,000,000 Inkstones, Five-Star Fiend points, and all materials from the Blackwater Profound Serpent's body (extremely valuable).] [Warning: This mission is extremely dangerous. It is strongly recommended that Five-Star Fiends accept it as a team, or that an Asura-level expert undertake it. The mortality rate for accepting it alone exceeds ninety percent!]
The peak of Five-Star Fiend strength, with complete comprehension of one profound mystery... far stronger than Bloodblade! Just what I need to test my current limits, along with the effects of the [Eye of Illusion-Breaking] and that trace of Willpower.
Without the slightest hesitation, he accepted the mission under the incredulous gazes of the other fiends around him. The light screen once again lit up with the news that Lin Yinuo had accepted a Five-Star Mission, provoking another uproar.
"He accepted another one?! This time it's the Five-Star Mission for the Blackwater Profound Serpent!"
"He's mad! Absolutely mad! Even veteran Five-Star Fiends wouldn't dare face the Blackwater Profound Serpent alone!"
"Dragonblood Asura... he's either a truly peerless genius or a madman with a death wish!"
Ignoring the discussion, Lin Yinuo collected detailed information on Despair Swamp and the Blackwater Profound Serpent, then set off alone once more.
Despair Swamp lay in an enormous stretch of marshland southwest of Blood Peak City. Its mire was not ordinary mud, but black water containing some kind of corrosive energy. It gave off a nauseating stench and could slowly eat away even at divine power shields. Thick black mist shrouded the surroundings, severely disrupting vision and soul perception.
Lin Yinuo raised a shield and cautiously ventured deeper. Relying on his keen sensitivity to spatial fluctuations and the faint assistance of the [Eye of Illusion-Breaking], he could barely see through some of the mist, avoiding the traps and venomous insects hidden in the mire.
Following the information, he reached the deepest part of the swamp, a relatively open lake of black water. Its waters were pitch-black and deathly silent, as though they harbored some great terror.
He hovered above the lake, extending his spiritual power into it like feelers, only for it to vanish like a stone sinking into the sea, blocked by a cold, viscous force.
It's right here.
He activated the [Eye of Illusion-Breaking]. An exceedingly faint, clear light rose in his eyes, seemingly capable of piercing through illusion and reality. His gaze penetrated the pitch-black lake water, and he dimly saw a colossal creature coiled deep on the lakebed, like a slumbering primordial beast! It was a giant serpent over a thousand meters long, its entire body covered in palm-sized scales that gleamed with a cold black light! Dense Water Law fluctuations rippled around it. In particular, its Profound Mystery of the Water Body Technique had almost merged it with the surrounding black water. Without the Eye of Illusion-Breaking, it would have been extremely difficult to detect!
As though sensing his scrutiny, the enormous beast on the lakebed abruptly opened its eyes! Its vertical pupils resembled two black vortices, filled with coldness and savagery!
Boom!
The entire black-water lake instantly seethed! An enormous column of water over a hundred meters in diameter shot into the sky. The Blackwater Profound Serpent's hideous head emerged from within it, its cold vertical pupils locking onto Lin Yinuo in midair.
"Ant, you dare disturb this emperor's slumber? You're courting death!" A thought carrying a soul impact stabbed toward Lin Yinuo like a spike.
The faint trace of Willpower deep within Lin Yinuo's soul circulated of its own accord, effortlessly dissolving the soul impact into nothing. His gaze remained calm as he drove the Eye of Illusion-Breaking to its fullest, observing the Blackwater Profound Serpent's energy flow and the operation of its laws.
Found it! There's an extremely subtle point of stagnation in the operation of its Profound Mystery of the Water Body Technique, three inches below its neck! That's its weakness!
"Annihilation: Spatial Tremor!"
Lin Yinuo wasted no words and opened with his strongest killing move! He thrust both palms forward, and the invisible spatial annihilation shock wave appeared once more, sweeping toward the Blackwater Profound Serpent!
"Hmph! A paltry trick!" The Blackwater Profound Serpent snorted disdainfully. Its enormous body instantly blurred, seemingly transforming into flowing black water! The spatial tremor wave swept past, annihilating vast amounts of lake water, but it merely sent violent ripples through the black water the serpent had become, inflicting no substantial damage!
The Profound Mystery of the Water Body Technique-elementalization! Physical attacks and most energy attacks were almost ineffective!
"Taste this emperor's Blackwater Cage!" The Blackwater Profound Serpent opened its enormous maw and spat pitch-black venom across the sky. This venom was no simple liquid; it rapidly interwove in the air, forming an enormous black cage that enveloped heaven and earth! Countless vengeful souls howled upon the cage, radiating powerful forces of soul attraction and corrosion!
Innate ability-Blackwater Cage!
Lin Yinuo immediately felt the space around him become sealed. Waves of stabbing pain and dizziness assailed his soul, and even the circulation of his magic power grew sluggish!
What a powerful innate ability! It not only seals space, but also contains soul attacks!
He dared not be careless. With the support of Willpower, his soul power held firm within his mind, resisting the soul corrosion. At the same time, his Eye of Illusion-Breaking remained fixed on that point below the Blackwater Profound Serpent's neck!
Now!
At the instant the Blackwater Profound Serpent maintained its cage and drove its ability at full power, the energy flow at that point became unstable for a fleeting moment!
"Fire Condensation Finger: Extreme-Point Annihilation!"
Lin Yinuo compressed the concept of Annihilation within the Destruction Rule and the Profound Mystery of Explosion within the Fire Elemental Laws to their limits, condensing them at his fingertip into an almost imperceptible dark speck of light that contained world-destroying energy! At the same time, he incorporated his understanding of spatial fluctuations, pushing the speed of this finger strike beyond its limits!
Whoosh!
As though crossing the distance of space itself, the dark speck struck the sole weakness below the Blackwater Profound Serpent's neck with perfect precision before it could react!
This time, it was no longer an area attack, but the ultimate in point-to-point penetration and annihilation!
Pfft!
A faint yet heart-stopping muffled sound rang out.
The moment its weak point was struck, the Blackwater Profound Serpent's elementalized body became like a punctured balloon, its immense energy instantly running out of control! It let out an agonized shriek as its sturdy divine body began to disintegrate and undergo annihilation from within! The enormous Blackwater Cage also fluctuated violently before shattering with a crash!
"No... impossible! How could you know..." The Blackwater Profound Serpent's vertical pupils filled with unwillingness and disbelief. Finally, beneath the rampaging destructive energy, its enormous body vanished entirely into nothingness, leaving only a fist-sized, pitch-black crystal core radiating dense Water Law fluctuations, along with a spatial ring.
The lake gradually grew calm again, leaving only Lin Yinuo hovering in midair, panting slightly. That last strike had nearly drained his remaining magic power and more than half his spiritual power, but its effect had been remarkable.
The Eye of Illusion-Breaking combined with Willpower really can reveal weaknesses! Otherwise, with this Blackwater Profound Serpent's elementalized divine body and formidable innate ability, killing it would have been as difficult as ascending to heaven.
He put away the crystal core and spatial ring. Though he felt weakness spreading through his body, his heart was filled with joy. This time, he had truly relied on his own strength, skill, and insight to kill a peak Five-Star Fiend who had fully comprehended a profound mystery, overcoming the gap between their levels!
Just as he prepared to leave, the system notification sounded punctually in his mind:
[Ding! Check-in successful! Congratulations to the host for checking in at [Despair Swamp: Site of Blackwater's Fall] and receiving the rewards: [Water Law Fragment: Profound Mystery of Roundness] and [Planar Teleportation Talisman (Targeted: Zijing Main City)]!]
The [Water Law Fragment: Profound Mystery of Roundness] gave him insight into another form of the "Elements of Water." Though it did not align with his primary cultivation, he could still gain something by drawing connections between them.
The [Planar Teleportation Talisman (Targeted: Zijing Main City)] was a talisman shimmering with silver spatial light. Once used, it could teleport the host directly to a safe area within Zijing Main City's boundaries!
A Planar Teleportation Talisman! Just what I wanted! With this, the greatest obstacle to reaching Zijing Main City-that long and dangerous journey-will no longer be a problem!
Suppressing the urge to use the teleportation talisman immediately, he first returned to Blood Peak City. Upon turning in the mission, the stars on his fiend medallion became five, officially promoting him to a Five-Star Fiend! He also received an enormous reward.
With indisputable strength, Dragonblood Asura Lin Yinuo had reached the rank of Five-Star Fiend in Blood Peak City! The news swept through the entire city like a storm, and no one dared question his strength again.
Returning to the base, Lin Yinuo left most of his Inkstones and resources to Baton and the other two, instructing them to continue developing Dragon Shadow and come to Zijing Main City to reunite with him if an opportunity arose in the future.
After arranging everything, he entered a quiet room alone.
It's time.
He took out the [Planar Teleportation Talisman], its silver light flowing, and infused it with magic power.
Hum!
Intense spatial light enveloped him. The next moment, his figure vanished completely from Blood Peak City.
Light and shadow swirled before his eyes. When they stabilized, he stood outside an immense city whose grandeur and vastness defied description. Countless palaces floated in the sky, and powerful auras dotted the surroundings like stars. The elements and rules in the air were active to the extreme, more than a hundred times as much as in Blood Peak City!
Upon the city wall, two ancient divine characters, seemingly condensed from purple lightning, radiated the supreme majesty of dominion over the world-
Zijing!
The heart of the Zijing Continent, one of the Infernal Realm's seven continents, and the dwelling place of a Sovereign-he had arrived at Zijing Main City!
Lin Yinuo took a deep breath. Feeling this world's heavier, more terrifying restrictive force and its richer opportunities, his eyes burned with an unprecedented fighting spirit.
A new journey had begun!
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