Darkness.

Endless darkness.

Zhou Yuan’s body was buried in the deepest layer of the darkness. A warped, evil power continuously surged towards him like the tide, gradually eroding his mind.

Endless evilness and cruelness rose in his heart, seemingly intent on corrupting him to become the vilest creature in this world.

The Ancestral Dragon Scripture circulated in his body, causing the roar of an ancient dragon to echo. However, even this roar slowly grew weaker under the layers of enveloping darkness.

Zhou Yuan was far too weak compared to the Sacred God’s will and the God Annihilation Curse Poison. So weak that he was barely hanging on after being exposed to the residual power from the clash between the two great terrors.

Zhou Yuan understood his predicament. He had originally hoped to draw in the power of the Sacred God’s will and God Annihilation Curse Poison and subsequently direct it using the Ancestral Dragon Scripture. In the end, he would fuse their powers to create a new power that would likely allow him to ascend to a new cultivation stage.

However, he had begun to realize how idealistic he had been after numerous repeated trials. Reality was cruel and he was just far too weak, too weak to even move the residual power from the Sacred God’s will and the God Annihilation Curse Poison. As such, his plan had already failed at the first step.

His power was gradually being sapped away and once it hit rock bottom without him finding a way to replenish his reserves, the only fate that awaited him would be death.

However, Zhou Yuan knew that he had already tried his best. Despite this, he still felt his rationality and clarity slowly leaving him.

The risk he was undertaking went far beyond the imagination of any mortal. It was no wonder that even he felt it was most certain death.

However, Zhou Yuan had already anticipated this outcome. He knew it was nothing but a final desperate bet, but if he had not taken it, there would no longer be any chance for him and Yaoyao to meet. If so, what was there to be afraid of?

“I...won’t give up.” Zhou Yuan mumbled, almost like a mantra, in the darkness. However, his mumbling slowly became softer and more disjointed, even sounding somewhat confused after more time had passed.

If someone could peer into the deepest depths of the darkness, they would discover that only a floating head remained of Zhou Yuan. His expression was exaggeratedly twisted, a sight so bizarre that it would make anyone’s hair stand on ends.

Countless black runes crawled across his face, squirming under his skin like black worms as even this last piece of himself began to melt away.

“Am I...going to die?

“Yaoyao…

“I’m sorry.”

A last murmur sounded as Zhou Yuan was about to finally embrace oblivion.

However, a flash of mysterious purple-gold suddenly appeared from the depths of his mind. The purple-gold light seemed to be some kind of mysterious matter that was both tangible and incorporeal as it flowed about in his head.

Zhou Yuan’s attention was immediately drawn to it. He could sense a familiar presence from the mysterious substance.

The presence...belonged to Yaoyao!

It was the divine matter Yaoyao had left in his body long ago!

This sudden turn of events momentarily stunned Zhou Yuan. However, he quickly discovered that the surrounding Sacred God’s will and God Annihilation Curse Poison’s power had begun to stir, displaying desire and greed as they surged into Zhou Yuan’s head in an attempt to devour the divine matter.

As such a new clash began between the Sacred God’s will, the God Annihilation Curse Poison and divine matter in Zhou Yuan’s head.

The struggle in his head made him feel a head-splitting headache. It felt as if his head was about to explode.

However, he did not stop the battle, because a flash of inspiration had suddenly struck him.

The Sacred God’s will and the God Annihilation Curse Poison had been too tyrannical previously, making it impossible for him to direct and fuse them through the Ancestral Dragon Scripture. However, there was now a third force in play.

The divine matter was not overly aggressive in nature, and could be used as a medium to create balance between the Sacred God’s will and the God Annihilation Curse Poison.

Zhou Yuan’s power level was too low and it was impossible for him to act at this balancing medium, however, the divine matter could clearly fulfil this role!

Hundreds of thoughts rapidly flashed past in Zhou Yuan’s head. In the end, he decisively grasped this final sliver of hope. With a thought, the roar of an ancient dragon rang out in his head as an ancient dragon silhouette appeared. The dragon coiled itself, forming a dragon cauldron where the three terrifying powers continued to clash.

The Ancestral Dragon Scripture activated as fire began to burn in the dragon cauldron, slowly roasting the three terrifying powers.

The Ancestral Dragon Scripture originated from the Ancestral Dragon. Hence, there was no need to elaborate on its wonders. It had been incapable of refining and fusing the Sacred God’s will and the God Annihilation Curse Poison’s power because Zhou Yuan’s cultivation was too low. Now, however, he had the divine matter as a buffer to lessen the pressure, allowing the Ancestral Dragon Scripture to finally show its true power.

As the dragon cauldron burned, a wisp of mysterious qi slowly rose from within. It was extremely faint and immediately fused into Zhou Yuan’s head the moment it appeared.

In that instant, Zhou Yuan was ecstatic to discover that his originally depleted reserves had begun to recover at an alarming speed.

Moreover, he could clearly feel that this wisp of mysterious qi was on a higher realm of power than his Saint force, and was both more immense and mysterious.

In this moment, he felt that his reckless plan did have the possibility of succeeding!

He did not dare to tarry, tightly guarding his mind as he continued to circulate the Ancestral Dragon Scripture to maintain the dragon cauldron’s work.

As more of the Sacred God’s will and God Annihilation Curse Poison’s power flowed in, wisp after wisp of magical qi rose from burning dragon cauldron before being absorbed by Zhou Yuan.

After a few seconds, Zhou Yuan's body began to regrow at a speed that could be seen by the naked eye.

His new body looked as if it was constructed from glass. It pulsed with a strange, mysterious glow as ancient runes that seemingly originated from the beginning of time appeared on his skin.

Zhou Yuan had a feeling that the power of this new body alone could easily pulverize him at his previous peak.

Moreover, this was only the beginning.

As his body reconstructed itself, more and more of the magical qi began to flow into his body. In the darkness, Zhou Yuan’s aura began to climb at an unimaginable speed.

In the endless darkness, the two terrors continued to erode each other, unaware that at a certain spot between them, a tiny worm that should have already been killed was gradually devouring their power and growing stronger little by little...