Anwen understood the situation. “Her Majesty Nighteye must’ve told you.”

“Why do you guys refer to her as Her Majesty?”

Anwen replied, “I don’t know which ancient character she has awakened to, but that character is definitely more powerful than ordinary great dark monarchs. It’s not excessive to refer to her respectfully.”

“Very well, continue.”

“Inside Blacksun Valley is reportedly the very origin of darkness.”

“Darkness origins? The source of darkness? Does it really exist?” Qianye was surprised.

More often than not, the daybreak and darkness origins were just a concept. It might be absolute in numbers and logic, but that didn’t mean they physically existed.

“It’s the darkness origins, not the source.”

Qianye still couldn’t understand. Normally, the word was used to describe the root of each faction’s power, like the daybreak origins of human heavenly monarchs and the darkness origins of the great dark monarchs. This thing in the new world, could it be a world in and of itself?

Anwen had no way to explain this concept further. “I don’t know exactly what kind of existence it is. We call it that because its appearance will change the origin power ratio of this world.”

Qianye was surprised. “The origin power ratio?” This really made one think a lot. “Will it change the energy system?”

Anwen said with an approving expression, “Your connection is reasonable. Although I don’t know if that’s really the case, the fact that it will change the ratio of origin power is the truth. At the very least, our supreme said so.”

Qianye’s brows locked into a frown—this wasn’t good news. A shift in origin power ratios was much more important than a ten-degree change in the world’s temperature.

From the natural origin power environment of Blacksun Valley, it would be safe to assume that all intelligent daybreak lifeforms would be greatly weakened if there was a sharp increase in darkness origin power. This was especially true for humans, and even the heavenly monarchs would not be an exception.

The fortunate outcome at that point was to become something akin to a marginalized race. The humans might be able to remain a separate race, but the four continents would be lost. In the worst-case scenario, the Evernight faction would declare war on the Empire. People would be taken captive as slave soldiers and livestock.

At the thought of this, Qianye suddenly noticed that the reason behind the war was a special matter.

“Then what’s the truth about the world we are in?”

“The world we are in is actually a cage. Everyone here, from the lowest races to the highest supremes, is just a captive, no exception.”

“You mean to say we’re being held here?” This was the first time Qianye had heard of such a theory.

“We are indeed being held captive, but the one holding us is not some powerful entity but ourselves.”

“Ourselves?”

“Correct.” Anwen pointed at his head. “To be precise, our intelligence is what keeps us imprisoned.”

“Speak human please!”

“I’m a demonkin…” Anwen’s comical expression faded away when he saw Qianye’s face.

He produced a notebook and began drawing on one of the empty pages. In the blink of an eye, the twenty-seven continents of the Evernight world appeared on paper, along with some of the larger neutral lands.

“This is our world. Most people think our world is vast enough, so much so that even the grand dukes only end up exploring the upper continents.”

“Correct, the upper continents are indeed dangerous.” Qianye sighed emotionally.

Back when he had led the vampires toward Dawn Continent, the journey was full of danger even with the Martyr’s Palace opening up the way and the trio overseeing everything. And that was because Howard had already figured out the path. Any other transport fleet would’ve lost about thirty percent of their spaceships.

After arriving there, the torrent of fire from the solar winds allowed Qianye to experience the true might of heaven and earth. Even a great dark monarch wouldn’t dare face them head-on.

The Dawn Continent could be considered rather moderate among the upper continents. At the very least, the vampires could still survive in a corner of the continent. The dangers involved in traveling even higher only existed in the notes of heavenly monarchs and great dark monarchs.

Anwen said, “Our direction of exploration is wrong. We shouldn’t be exploring the upper continents. Instead, we should focus our efforts on understanding our world, reforming our intelligence system, and finding ways to better utilize origin power.”

He drew a circle on a different paper and pointed to the center. “If you consider our world as a whole, this is the point at the center. The only thing stopping us is the vast distance of the void. What we need to cross isn’t strength but intelligence. We never found a good way to travel through the far void. That’s why I said we’re captives of our own intelligence.”

“Why do I remember you saying something different before?” Qianye thought back to when he had discussed the new world with Anwen.

The demonkin replied, “Back then, I only had a rudimentary knowledge of the world. I thought our greatest obstruction in communicating with the outside world was the dangers in the void, especially those void colossi. Supreme experts from each generation returned empty-handed either because they ran into these beasts or fell to indefensible dangers. Only now did I realize that the true obstruction is a different matter—it was just pure distance.”

He drew something on the paper and said, “I have set up several demonic energy lenses with different filtration effects, using them to observe a single star and analyze its light spectrum. The results were fairly interesting. One of them is the starlight that comes from the peak of our world. Some are physically here, but others are just shadows. These shadows were cast from other small worlds like Evernight.”

Qianye was astonished, but this was definitely a possibility after some thought; for instance, that passage at the bottom of Giant’s Repose on Evernight Continent. If there could be passages that connected continents, why couldn’t there be tunnels between worlds?

Anwen said, “Another thing is, they’re extremely far from us.”

“How far?”

“Beyond our imagination.”

Qianye raised his brows, intrigued by the finding.

Anwen said, “Let’s put it this way. If we take the distance between the lowest Evernight Continent to the top-most sun as one, the distance between us and the nearest new world is in the trillions.”

“Trillions?!” Qianye couldn’t help but feel shaken despite his indifference in the face of great dark monarchs.

He thought about it but still couldn’t wrap his head around this number. The only thing he could think of was that even Lilith flying at full speed might not be able to cross this distance in her lifetime.

“But this cage isn’t unbreakable.” Seeing Qianye’s interested demeanor, Anwen continued without keeping the former in suspense, “The primary method is to study our world and understand its basic laws. For instance, what’s the theory behind your Spatial Flash? Can airships be brought along in a flash? Can the jump distance be increased limitlessly as long as there was enough energy? Why can void colossi live in the void? Can we replicate their organs and install them on our airships?

“You demonkin also have a spatial secret art, something called demonic traversal or space traversal, right?” Qianye asked.

“We have both of them.” Anwen’s eyes lit up. “In fact, our race did have a technique similar to your Spatial Flash, though not at the level where it’s enough to break through this world. Unfortunately, the inheritance has been lost in the long river of time. If we can solve this problem, we might be able to build an airship that can travel through the starry skies and explore the boundless realms beyond. Now that is where experts like us belong!”

Qianye was a bit fascinated by the speech, but he quickly broke out in a wry smile. “I’m still being hunted down by the Demon King. I can’t even think about exploring the unknown world. We’ll see if I manage to survive.”

Anwen glanced at Qianye and said seriously, “Your progress is the number one in the Evernight world, and the Black-Winged Monarch’s inheritance gives you an instinctive understanding of space. Finally, you have the Martyr’s Palace, which was built from the Earth Dragon’s remains. Rumor has it that there’s a living organ on board. All in all, you’re the most suitable pioneer in this realm. If you’re willing, I will follow you on this journey.”

“Now?”

“Of course not, we need to wait until the theory has been perfected. Exploring the void now will only get us killed.”

Anwen was fairly honest. This person was definitely the odd one out among the countless experts in the Evernight faction. Qianye could tell from their short encounters that he was a highly intelligent individual. If he were to spend all of that effort on cultivation, even the Demoness might not be his match.

Yet Anwen had little interest in strength and wars. On the contrary, he was exceptionally fascinated with exploration. Qianye had never read or even heard about his theories and complicated formulas.

Anwen’s theories weren’t just empty thoughts. His ability to derive the correct demonkin bloodlines proved that he was capable. His hypothesis on space distance was another factor.

Qianye put his sword away and said, “You may leave. This world is already messed up, at least it’ll be more interesting with people like you around.”

Anwen didn’t leave immediately. “How about you? What’s your plan? Keep killing like this?”

“This is war and not something I have much of a choice in. All I can do is make that warmongering Demon King of yours feel a bit of pain. That’s the whole reason I’m here.”

Anwen shook his head. “The demonkin of Serafis Continent, even the experts, have forgotten battle over time. They’re more civilians than warriors, so killing them won’t bring you glory.”

“Many of the killed vampires were also civilians. As for the humans, there’s no need to even talk about it. Besides, according to you, a war is inevitable once the inner world becomes accessible.”

Anwen sighed. “It should’ve been seven days since you arrived here. You’ve killed over a thousand during this time, is it not enough?”

“There would be no wars if that were enough.”

Anwen said with a frown, “I know I can’t dissuade you, and my own strength is also not enough to dissuade His Majesty.”

Qianye suddenly felt a bit curious about this supreme. “Does the Demon King not believe what you say?”

Anwen’s expression seemed a bit strange. “His Majesty Kane is different from those old men at the academy…”

Qianye waited for the continuation, but Anwen didn’t speak further.

“And?”

Anwen sighed. “His Majesty is already at the peak of this world. He has his own considerations, but they should be more or less resolved after the Blacksun Valley business.”

Qianye’s eyes flickered, but he said nothing.

Anwen didn’t notice the change in expression. “If you promise to pull out from Serafis, I will tell you a secret about the River of Blood.”

Qianye pondered for a while. He was already nearing his time limit on Serafis Continent; any longer, and he would be surrounded and hunted down. Besides, the fact that he had intentionally cut off the Aegis Wellspring could hardly be hidden from the Demon King. He had to be wary of the supreme arriving in person.

Qianye nodded without further contemplation.

Anwen opened his notebook and wrote down a series of formulas.

He chuckled when he saw Qianye’s puzzlement through the corner of his eyes. “Let it be, I’ll just get to the summary. I’ve discovered that the disappearance of the River of Blood has something to do with the arrival of the new world.”

Qianye was surprised. “How are the two related?”

“That I don’t know.”

Qianye asked after some thought, “Do you think the supremes know this?”

Anwen’s conclusion felt a bit conflicted compared to what he had said just now. Since the Queen of the Night was the only one remaining among those who had tried to pull the new world closer back in the year, did she know that this act would cause the River of Blood to disappear?

Just as Qianye expected, Anwen couldn’t give him a definite answer, but that didn’t make Qianye doubt his conclusion. The two exchanged glances for a bit. Qianye was about to let Anwen go and leave Serafis soon afterward. All of a sudden, Qianye’s heart beat rapidly as he looked at the sky.

The River of Blood had appeared in the depths of the void, and unlike before, it was extremely clear. The giant surging waves stifled everyone who could sense it.