Xiang Shaoyun had not expected to encounter spatial crested snakes here. He was forced to be on full alert. The spatial crested snakes were proficient in speed, capable of moving undetected, and they were extremely hard to catch.

Of course, their weakness was rather apparent as well. Their offensive power was rather weak. So long as one had proper defenses up, one would be safe. With his Goldplates active around him, Xiang Shaoyun continued advancing.

The spatial crested snakes occasionally appeared, trying to bite through his Goldplates to assault him with their poison. Of course, Xiang Shaoyun would not allow himself to remain in a reactive position for long. Just as the spatial crested snakes appeared once again, he grabbed the opportunity and swung the Overlord Skyslaying Saber, slashing one of the snakes into two.

"Come at me, you poisonous life forms. I, Xiang Shaoyun, am not afraid of you," said Xiang Shaoyun, his battle intent soaring.

If he hadn't comprehended the profundity of darkness, it wouldn't be so easy to detect the spatial crested snakes. But the more he advanced, the more spatial crested snakes there were. They became so numerous even he started feeling fear.

"Don't tell me I have arrived at their lair," he muttered doubtfully. At this time, six spatial crested snakes shot out from six different directions.

Xiang Shaoyun wanted to blast them to death by summoning lightning from the sky. However, he found that the only lightning power he had access to was his innate purple lightning. Even so, the power of darkness suppressed the innate purple lightning he released, and his lightning was thus not destructive enough to deal with the snakes. At that realization, he tried using the power of Yun Flame. Similarly, the power was weakened as well.

Xiang Shaoyun finally realized that here, probably only the power of darkness would be effective. When that realization hit him, he switched his weapon to a black sword and swung it around madly, powering his slashes with dark energy. Sure enough, only when using the power of darkness would he be able to attack smoothly.

Hiss! Hiss!

The spatial crested snakes flitted in and out of existence, attacking him from numerous different directions. Some came from above, some came from below, some came from his waist, and so on. In an instant, the number of spatial crested snakes grew to more than 10, causing his Goldplates to be on the brink of collapse.

If he hadn't been slashing his black sword madly, killing a few of the snakes, he would have been in much greater trouble. He no longer dared to continue flying. Instead, he activated his trait of invisibility.

His trait of invisibility was not as simple as turning invisible. Even his entire presence was masked, causing the spatial crested snakes to lose track of him. They started appearing one after another, looking for him everywhere to no avail.

Meanwhile, Xiang Shaoyun had completely blended with the darkness, letting him see the spatial crested snakes clearly. He no longer held back, slashing the spatial crested snakes with his black sword.

The spatial crested snake's biggest weakness was its lack of defense. Under Xiang Shaoyun's mad slashes, they started dropping one after another. Some of the faster ones immediately fled, no longer daring to stay.

Xiang Shaoyun heaved a breath of relief and continued advancing. Naturally, along the way, he encountered more spatial crested snakes. Hidden amid the darkness, they were extremely hard to see with the naked eye.

However, Xiang Shaoyun had already comprehended the profundity of darkness. He now possessed night vision and could see them all clearly. He did not kill easily anymore, and he only attacked when his path was blocked.

As he went deeper, he finally found the thing that had been calling him over. Almost a thousand spatial crested snakes were ahead of him, surrounding a clump of energy and absorbing it. The jet-black spiraling energy was a unique existence within this dark space.

After he approached, Xiang Shaoyun sensed a dense dark energy emanating from that clump, and even he started to absorb the energy by instinct. His dark star grew rapidly, and his bloodline power stirred again.

He could sense that the clump was no simple item. He swallowed and started approaching the spiraling clump. When he approached, he found that the spiral was akin to a black hole capable of swallowing everything. The dark energy it emanated was of the highest purity. Although it was not a type of unique dark power, it was even more precious than a unique dark power.

Xiang Shaoyun started searching his mind for the information he knew about dark energy, trying to figure out the spiral's origin. Finally, a look of astonishment covered his face as he exclaimed, "Is this a clump of dark origin energy?"

The more he thought about it, the more certain he was that it was dark origin energy. The ultimate form of the power of darkness was a black hole, and this spiral seemed to be on the path of turning into a pure black hole. It was formed of pure dark energy, and perhaps after several tens of thousands of years later, it would become a terrifying black hole.

This clump of dark origin energy was an optimal material to build one's soul foundation. Any Sovereign would turn mad over the discovery of this thing. Obtaining it would not only allow one's strength to grow rapidly, but would also help one perfect one's soul foundation. It would also alter one's body, helping one enter the Heaven Battling Realm. One could say that this clump of dark origin energy was a true saint-grade material. It could even be called a god-grade material.

Xiang Shaoyun had not expected that he would be able to find something like this here. He repeatedly swallowed, not knowing what to do. He had just entered the Dragon Ascension Realm and was incapable of absorbing the dark origin energy. At most, he would only be able to absorb a tiny bit of it, and even that much was enough for him to benefit greatly.

However, he was unwilling to give up on it just like that. It was a saint-grade material, one that was extremely rare. Some Sovereigns, and even Saints, would spend their entire lives never coming across it. Since he was lucky enough to encounter it, he had to grab onto this opportunity.

I must take it away! Xiang Shaoyun told himself.

He had an astral cosmos sea that was different from anyone else's. He planned to take the entirety of the dark origin energy into him. At present, his astral cosmos sea had reached a level nobody could imagine, capable of containing an incredibly massive item.

Xiang Shaoyun acted immediately on his thought as he approached the clump of energy. Numerous spatial crested snakes were surrounding the dark origin energy, joyfully absorbing its energy. Perhaps they were only able to freely traverse the endless darkness thanks to the energy they had absorbed here.

Xiang Shaoyun looked at the dark origin energy, his eyes burning with passion. He activated his astral cosmos sea, aimed his absorptive force at the clump, and pulled. However, what he expected did not happen...