On the other side, in a boundless universe.
Two advanced civilizations were engaged in interstellar warfare, with countless starships arrayed across various starfields, locked in combat for millions of years.
Suddenly, a flame clad in pitch-black armor appeared at the center of the battlefield where the two civilizations clashed, and a surging inferno swept out in all directions.
All planets, civilizations, starships… were instantly reduced to ashes.
The two advanced civilizations, vying for cosmic supremacy, were annihilated in an instant.
The boundless universe was left with nothing but a sea of fire.
In this universe, whether it was technologically advanced interstellar civilizations capable of reversing time and space, or the Immortal Emperors and Demonic Ancestors who roamed the eight directions on martial arts continents… all were incinerated to ashes.
All legacies, histories, and foundations… turned into nothingness.
“Ah… it’s much more comfortable in my own domain.”
The Primordial Flame King lay in the sea of fire, contentedly watching countless souls struggle within his inferno, his eyes filled with amusement.
“Watching these lowly beings suffer and struggle is indeed one of life’s pleasures.”
“It’s a pity, though, I only have a hundred universes… Before the other six kings emerge, I must be frugal… Now is not the time to counterattack the Overseers, so I can only make do.”
*Thump thump!*
Just as the Primordial Flame King was muttering to himself, he suddenly felt a powerful heartbeat, and the smile on his face froze.
“Wh-what’s going on?”
The Primordial Flame King abruptly stood up, his pupils beginning to tremble slightly, and a look of panic appeared on his face.
The heartbeat was normal…
But the crucial point was that he was pure flame, with no heart at all!
The heartbeat emanating from within him absolutely did not belong to him!
“Is this the work of Bai Dao?”
At first, the Primordial Flame King thought Bai Dao had set a trap for him. He frantically checked the pitch-black armor attached to his body, but no matter how he inspected it, he found no issues whatsoever!
*Thump thump!*
Once again, the heartbeat grew stronger.
The Primordial Flame King realized the heartbeat was coming from within him and immediately looked inside his body. He saw that outside his core of flame, several runes were converging, simulating a beating heart.
“Runes… is it Ye Ling?”
Upon seeing the runes within him, the Primordial Flame King’s pupils constricted sharply. “That guy isn’t dead?”
Discovering this, the Primordial Flame King was completely panicked.
This Ye Ling was clearly intending to resurrect himself using his body!
“Outrageous!”
The Primordial Flame King’s face contorted. Without hesitation, he plunged his hand into his own chest, reaching for his core of flame, attempting to destroy Ye Ling’s runes!
However, before the Primordial Flame King could touch the runes, he found that about half of the power within him was surging towards the runes, converting into the runes’ power!
*Bang!!!*
The Primordial Flame King’s hand was directly repelled by the runes!
“This!!!”
The Primordial Flame King realized that half of his power was suddenly beyond his control. He was stunned for a moment, then fully comprehended, exclaiming, “That kid… played a trick on my disciples?”
Three-tenths of his peak power was placed on his disciples. To make it easier to find Ye Ling, he had specifically asked Ye Ling to modify his disciples using Mo Jian, so that he could trade with the Overseers.
But he never expected that Ye Ling would also leave a contingency on his disciples!
“Damn it! Did that kid foresee that I would betray him and cooperate with the Overseers, and thus hid a part of his consciousness within my disciples, and then sneaked into my body when I was recovering my power?”
As he thought of this, the fear on the Primordial Flame King’s face intensified.
If his cultivation were at its peak, even if Ye Ling had seized three-tenths of his power, he could have easily annihilated Ye Ling.
But now, his total power was only a little over seven-tenths of his peak… and Ye Ling had instantly taken three-tenths of his peak power, nearly half of his current strength…
Even if the Primordial Flame King still had the upper hand against Ye Ling, he couldn’t suppress Ye Ling’s revival.
He could only watch helplessly as Ye Ling resurrected himself using his own power!
Soon, within those runes, Ye Ling, in the form of an infant, slowly took shape, and the Primordial Flame King’s power was continuously injected into the infant.
The next moment, Ye Ling, in the form of an infant, slightly opened his eyes, meeting the gaze of the Primordial Flame King’s internal vision.
Ye Ling’s lips curved slightly, as if mocking the Primordial Flame King.
“What a joke? This is all my power!”
Seeing Ye Ling’s smile, the Primordial Flame King was almost furious. Violent power spread outwards, threatening to affect other universes.
However, the excessively powerful force released by the Primordial Flame King triggered the defense mechanism of the armor on his body. The armor glowed with a faint light, suppressing the Primordial Flame King’s power once again!
Feeling the dual suppression from within and without, the Primordial Flame King could only rage impotently, roaring fiercely, “Damn it!!!”
Soon, the infant-like Ye Ling grew into the form of a child, then into a youth, and finally stopped at the appearance of a young man.
“Phew… fortunately, I made a contingency plan.”
Ye Ling, inside the Primordial Flame King, looked at his reshaped body and chuckled. He then walked out of the surging flames, taking the Primordial Flame King’s power with him.
The power of creation surged forth, and the flames surrounding Ye Ling gradually transformed into a black robe.
“Ye Ling…”
The Primordial Flame King looked at Ye Ling in front of him with a grim expression and said in a deep voice, “You have quite the nerve… daring to steal my power!”
“Steal?”
Ye Ling turned and smiled at the Primordial Flame King, saying, “Didn’t you give me this power?”
“Quibbling!” The Primordial Flame King grunted, his body rapidly expanding, then transforming into a ferocious flame beast larger than a starfield, staring intently at the minuscule Ye Ling.
“Even if you played your little tricks and survived under Tian Ji and Bai Dao, you now only have three-tenths of my power… Now that I have regained my true form, and still have more than four-tenths of my peak power within me, killing you and reclaiming my power… is as easy as flipping a hand!”
“Is it truly as easy as flipping a hand?”
Ye Ling stood in the sea of fire, smiling at the Primordial Flame King, but his eyes gradually turned cold.
“You bastard almost got me killed… and I lost the power of the Primordial Wisdom King too… If I don’t take away the remaining four-tenths of your power today, I can’t make up for my losses!”
The Primordial Flame King grinned and said in a muffled voice, “With your current state, all the power you use is mine. My power is more than a tenth greater than yours. How can you be my opponent?”
“Then it depends on whether the methods taught to me by Shan’e Jiao can bridge the gap between us, allowing me to kill you across realms…”
Ye Ling chuckled lightly, and the Devouring Domain slowly spread out from beneath his feet.
“However, I believe… I can do it.”