Time flew.

The three Devil grand monarchs’ mountainous corpses had shrunk significantly and no longer shone with dazzling devilish light as they were drained of their flesh power.

SPLASH!

Blood ran through Nie Tian’s veins with unprecedented speed.

His flesh aura sea spread thousands of meters into his surroundings.

WHOOSH!

A few Devil starships seemed to have sailed far and long, and finally arrived here.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

All of a sudden, the Devils on the ancient starships noticed the three Devil grand monarchs’ shriveled, mangled corpses.

Just as they cried out orders to retreat, a crimson blood sea spread towards them with an overwhelming momentum.

In the blink of an eye, the Devil starships were engulfed by Nie Tian’s flesh aura sea.

Every last Devil on board, along with the numerous devilish insects and beasts that were being shipped with them, exploded with a violent boom, before morphing into wisps of purple blood mist that joined Nie Tian’s flesh aura sea.

Nie Tian’s flesh aura sea was like a blood-colored abyss that devoured all lives!

“This is the fifth batch now,” Shao Tianyang muttered in a low voice in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

He no longer presented himself in the form of a blazing sphere, nor his dharma idol.

Rather, he manifested in his true form, surrounded by numerous profound fiery spell formations and battling against the devilish flames.

For once, a hint of relief appeared on his face as he said, “Nie Tian has killed all of the devilish insects and beasts that have been shipped here on Devil starships over the past ten days. Without being fueled by fresh devilish creatures or amplified by the three Devil grand monarchs, the might of the flames in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement is clearly on the decline, and so is the speed at which we’re being drained of our power.”

“Yeah, we can finally relax a bit,” Baptista said. “This is the easiest time I’ve had since I was imprisoned here.”

Even though his enormous dragon form was still bathed in the devilish flames, he shrewdly sensed that the flames’ impact on him had greatly weakened, as long as he remained where he was and didn’t touch the restrictive spells.

Not a second had gone by without them suffering from the devilish flames in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

Since they couldn’t get replenishment, their flame power and flesh auras were bound to be exhausted one day, and that would be their doom.

Before Nie Tian’s arrival, they had sensed that day drawing near, which had gradually driven them into despair.

However, now that Nie Tian had annihilated the three Devil grand monarchs and engulfed all of the arriving devilish insects and beasts in his flesh aura sea, they felt a much lighter pressure on their shoulders.

Even though they were still being gnawed at by the devilish flames, the speed at which they were losing their power had become much more acceptable.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

The sinister huge evil gods hovered around the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement unceasingly.

FIZZ!

Every once in a while, a cyan bolt of lightning would flash by above the forbidden land, which was usually accompanied by a soft groan from one of the evil gods.

It was from the pain of their soul awareness being burned by the devilish flames.

“Nope,” the evil god of bloodlust said, hovering. “No wonder the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement is known as one of the forbidden areas in the Void World. Even our soul awareness can’t infiltrate it. We can only see that human and that flame dragon looming in those flames, but it doesn’t seem possible for us to communicate with them.”

“I can’t establish communication with them either,” Agaz the flame dragon chimed in.

The evil god of fear frowned and took a deep look at Nie Tian. “But for our master... I think the flesh power of those three Devil grand monarchs might actually help his bloodline advance to the tenth grade. Then again, the great changes in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement might beckon the Devils’ counteraction. Perhaps it won’t be long before powerful Devil experts start pouring in from all directions.”

“You’re right.” The evil god of bloodlust agreed.

The evil god of rage pondered for a moment, then said, “However, if we can free those two from the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement below, we may be able to create some major waves together in the Void World. Then, the Devils may not be able to put us down even if they send all of their available forces after us.”

The evil god of fear let out a deep sigh. “But the devilish flames in the forbidden land can burn even our soul awareness, not to mention our bodies.”

Several days passed...

With a poof, the shriveled corpses of the three Devil grand monarchs that had been in charge of protecting the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement crumbled, their ashes rapidly dissipating in the starry river.

Not a single trace was left behind.

The Spirit Scepter, which was floating quietly next to Nie Tian, suddenly burst forth with cyan divine light, reflecting in the prismatic crystals on the foreheads of the five evil gods.

One of the Nether River engravings on the scepter started flowing, giving rise to splashing sounds.

Countless clusters of cyan light seemed to shine within it.

The five evil gods looked unblinkingly at the Nether River on the Spirit Scepter. “What?!”

Their eyes seemed to see through it and capture the unusual changes that were taking place in the Realm of Dark Souls.

...

The Nether River that was said to have been transformed from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit’s true soul surrounded the Realm of Dark Souls. Now, numerous clusters of cyan light started exploding violently within it.

The wide array of exquisite soul spells and soul wonders Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had left in it seemed to be detonated, and soon disappeared.

Many Netherspirits that were deriving enlightenment from the Nether River sprung to their feet, their faces turning pale with fright.

“The Nether River is rejecting my soul awareness!”

“Mine too! A wisp of my soul essence was in there, trying to master a soul spell. But all of a sudden, it was expelled!”

“What’s going on? Why is the Nether River changing like this?”

“Who knows?!”

Many Netherspirits were deeply anxious as they rushed about to inform their leaders of the terrifying changes that were happening to the Nether River.

Word of the Nether River changing rapidly spread out in the Void World.

Almost at the same time, another shocking piece of news spread through all of the major Devil realms: they had lost contact with all of their clan members that had sailed out for the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement!

Many old Devil clans were shaken by the news.

“Something major must have happened in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement!”

“Did the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement fail to keep Shao Tianyang and that old dragon imprisoned? It can’t be. Even without those three grand monarchs there, the forbidden land’s restrictive spell alone should be able to keep Shao Tianyang and that old dragon from breaking free.”

“Under the might of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, they may only find a way to postpone their deaths, but they can’t possibly change the final result!”

“To the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement!”

...

At the same time.

Nie Tian slowly opened his eyes and reached out to grab the Spirit Scepter.

The moment he grabbed the scepter, his true soul seemed to suddenly travel through the void, and he sensed the Nether River in the Realm of Dark Underworld.

“Hmm?!” He frowned and said in astonishment, “The Nether River in the Realm of Dark Underworld is calling out to me, as if it’s calling me and begging for my help!”

Now, having absorbed all of the three Devil grand monarchs’ flesh power through Life Drain, his life bloodline had finally entered dormancy again.

He had finally accumulated enough flesh power to advance to the tenth grade!

The green aura in his heart was dormant, and no longer yearned for more flesh power, which meant its advance to the tenth grade might finish at any time now.

Of course, the process might take a breath’s time or ages. That was uncertain.

“The Nether River in the Realm of Dark Souls has sensed the presence of me and the Spirit Scepter, and it carries Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit’s residual awareness...”

With this thought, Nie Tian turned to fix his eyes on the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

At that moment, Agaz flew over. “Master, I’ve followed you for so long, and I’ve never asked you for anything. Now, I just want to ask you to free my father from the torment of those devilish flames and get him out of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement!”