Chapter 1080: You Think You Can Walk All Over Me?

I, Xue Gu, have waited for six hundred million years and paid such an enormous price. The closer I get to the final stage, the less I can afford any mistakes.

Devil Emperor Xue Gu murmured to himself.

Six hundred million years ago, while exploring the Sector River, he had accidentally obtained the seed essence of the Flower of Sin.

The Flower of Sin was an ultimate treasure that grew in the Abyssal Sector River, but nurturing it from a seed essence into a true flower was incredibly difficult.

Devil Emperor Xue Gu was extremely cautious, fearing that the news would leak. He knew very well that once revealed, it would be nearly impossible for him to protect the Flower of Sin with his second-stage Overlord strength.

Therefore, he first collected various array materials, then moved his lair to the Blood Bone Mountain Range at the edge of the sector world.

Following that, he spent three hundred million years trading with various Devil Emperors to acquire the precious materials needed to set up the Blood Sacrifice Devil Array. It wasn't that he didn't want to move things along quickly, but he only dared to trade for a tiny portion of materials with each Devil Emperor, fearing it would arouse suspicion from others. And after each trade, he would wait for a long time before making the next one.

Once all preparations were complete, he spent nearly a hundred million years selecting suitable array operators among his subordinate Sovereigns, while also traversing the thirty-six sectors of the Abyss, carrying out massacres in secret. He annihilated at least a hundred million Abyssal worlds, collecting the blood essence from countless members of the Abyss Devil race.

With all preparations in place, he finally laid down the array and began cultivating the Flower of Sin. The cultivation process alone took nearly two hundred million years.

Nine is the limit, once the flower stem grows to nine meters tall, it will be time for the Flower of Sin to bloom.

Devil Emperor Xue Gu thought to himself.

Endless fresh blood, endless sin, yet what it nurtures is a Flower of Sin that is supremely holy.

Legend has it that the Flower of Sin is useful even for eternal lifeforms. Once I use it up, even if I can't achieve eternity, I should have a very good chance of creating an ultimate eternal technique and reaching the fourth stage of Devil Emperor.

Devil Emperor Xue Gu's eyes were filled with anticipation.

I must nurture it successfully.

Among the thousands of Devil Emperors in the entire Abyss, Devil Emperor Xue Gu was just a very ordinary one. If he could create an eternal ultimate technique and possess fourth-stage Devil Emperor combat power, he would stand at the absolute pinnacle of the entire Abyss.

Suddenly, Devil Emperor Xue Gu frowned slightly.

Gui Chi?

...

Beneath Sovereign Gui Chi was that enormous array disk spanning over a hundred million li. Crimson blood covered the countless Dao patterns, which emitted a hazy glow.

What should I do? He’s getting closer and closer.

Sovereign Gui Chi fretted anxiously.

Whoosh~

An invisible fluctuation swept past, and a skeleton-like figure appeared in the void, emanating an almost eternal Dao resonance.

"Gui Chi?" Devil Emperor Xue Gu's voice was low and deep. "What's the matter?"

"Reporting to the Devil Emperor." Sovereign Gui Chi stood up, barely containing his unease as he said, "My ether body died not long ago, killed by a Devil Emperor in Falling Flame Mountain... Now in my karmic perception, that Overlord is rapidly approaching my location.

"I await the Devil Emperor's decision." Sovereign Gui Chi didn't dare hold anything back, explaining his situation in complete detail.

"Are you certain you've never provoked this Devil Emperor before?" Devil Emperor Xue Gu stared intently at Sovereign Gui Chi.

A hint of anger flickered in his heart. A Devil Emperor? Now, at this critical moment of the Flower of Sin’s development, he was unwilling to clash with any Devil Emperor.

"Absolutely not." Sensing Devil Emperor Xue Gu's anger, Sovereign Gui Chi lowered his voice and said, "This subordinate absolutely guarantees that I have never met that Devil Emperor before.

"Even when we encountered each other at Falling Flame Mountain, I didn't sense any karmic thread."

Now it was Devil Emperor Xue Gu's turn to be puzzled. They didn't know each other, and there was no prior karmic thread – so why would this Devil Emperor specifically come to kill Sovereign Gui Chi?

Is it a coincidence? No!

With his level of insight, Devil Emperor Xue Gu instantly assessed the situation.

The distance from the Tangyi Sea to my Blood Bone Mountain Range is incredibly far, yet he's arriving so quickly.

Clearly, after killing Gui Chi, he set off from Falling Flame Mountain without stopping, as if worried Gui Chi might escape.

Moreover, under normal circumstances, how could killing just one of Gui Chi's ether bodies create such a strong karmic thread?

Devil Emperor Xue Gu already had a rough idea and many conjectures in his mind.

"You said that Sovereign Qi An under Devil Emperor Ku Mu previously invited you on a treasure hunt?" Devil Emperor Xue Gu asked coldly. "And then made you wander around Falling Flame Mountain for a long time?"

"Yes." Sovereign Gui Chi nodded repeatedly, then suddenly started as he also realized, "Devil Emperor, are you saying this was a trap?"

It was too coincidental.

"It’s hard to say whether it was a trap set by Devil Emperor Ku Mu." Devil Emperor Xue Gu's gaze was icy cold. "However, you don't need to worry about it. Just stay here and focus on maintaining the array."

"Understood!" Sovereign Gui Chi responded respectfully.

Boom!

Devil Emperor Xue Gu instantly vanished.

...

Above the blood sea in the center of the mountain range, Devil Emperor Xue Gu appeared out of thin air, murmuring to himself.

Expected to arrive in two days?

Who exactly are you?

Devil Emperor Xue Gu was filled with concern.

He had just seen the memory projection from Sovereign Gui Chi. It was a Devil Emperor he had never seen before. However, it was also possible that he did know them, but they had changed their appearance.

If the other party only had a grudge with Sovereign Gui Chi, Devil Emperor Xue Gu wouldn't be too worried. What he feared most was that the other party had noticed something, and their ultimate target was himself.

I hope you don't force my hand. Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to fight.

A murderous glint flashed in Devil Emperor Xue Gu's sunken eyes.

...

Two days later.

The outskirts of the Blood Bone Mountain Range were a distance from the mountain range itself, thus many Abyssal Devil race beings lived here.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Hiding on the outskirts of the forbidden zone is much safer. Even if Sovereign Jiu Gu's minions pursue, they wouldn't dare come here."

"Second brother, I know the reputation of the forbidden zone, but will those Astral Monarchs under Sovereign Jiu Gu truly not dare to come here?"

"Don't worry, Big Brother. I've long heard that this forbidden zone was allegedly established by a great Devil Emperor. Sovereigns are absolutely forbidden from trespassing, and intruders will die. Even for Astral Monarchs like us, if our battles violate the rules of the forbidden zone, we would be instantly killed.

"Historically, there have been Astral Monarchs and even Sovereigns who died because of this.

"So as long as we stay along the edge of the forbidden zone and don't leave, Sovereign Jiu Gu won't dare to capture us. He simply won’t dare to fight us here." The two Abyssal Devil race Astral Monarch powerhouses chatted.

There were originally six brothers living carefree and unfettered lives, but they offended Sovereign Jiu Gu and were hunted down. Their other four brothers had all died.

Only the two of them escaped here, hoping to rely on the deadly reputation of the forbidden zone to stay alive.

There were quite a few Astral Monarchs like them around the edges of the Blood Bone Mountain Range.

"I'm just worried that this isn’t too safe," said the taller Astral Monarch in a low voice.

"Don't worry, Big Brother. This forbidden zone has existed for hundreds of millions of years. I've never heard of anything happen..." the other Devil Astral Monarch reassured him.

Boom!

Before he could finish speaking, heaven and earth trembled faintly, and over a hundred million li of void distorted as a majestic figure wearing black battle armor appeared at the edge of the world.

He stood there, a bloody aura spreading out in all directions for hundreds of billions of li.

If the Blood Bone Mountain Range had previously seemed like an insurmountable colossus in the perception of the many Astral Monarchs and Archdevils, then at this moment, this figure likewise seemed like a supreme and exalted existence. As if he were the incarnation of heaven and earth!

"Who is that?"

"This!"

"What kind of powerhouse is this?" Those countless Archdevils hiding on the edges of the Blood Bone Mountain Range were dumbfounded. The fearsome pressure made them shiver, and unknowingly, even their speed of thought seemed to slow down.

This was due to the absolute difference in the orders of life.

At Wu Yuan's level, he could kill countless Archimmortals and Archdeities with just a glance or a thought.

The hundreds of Astral Monarchs were in a slightly better situation, but not by much. They were all completely terrified, not daring to make the slightest movement.

However, Wu Yuan, floating in the void, paid no attention to the many Abyssal Devil race powerhouses below. In his mind, those Archdevils were no different from specks of dust. Astral Monarchs? Just some insects.

Sovereign Gui Chi is inside this mountain range.

Wu Yuan frowned slightly, staring at the enormous mountain range in the distance shrouded in blood mist.

His mastery of arrays was not particularly deep, but he could determine that this was an extremely dangerous grand array.

Could this be Devil Emperor Xue Gu's lair?

Wu Yuan frowned slightly.

He had rushed here too quickly, with no time to gather intelligence from other Abyssal Sovereigns along the way.

As for the intelligence collected by the Eldritch Court? It wasn't that detailed either. After all, the Eldritch Court hadn't established Saintdom branches in the Abyss, making it very difficult to obtain much information.

However, from the level of the array before him, plus the fact that Sovereign Gui Chi hadn't fled, Wu Yuan already had some guesses.

So Wu Yuan didn't take action directly, merely releasing his aura without any reservations.

Rumble~

Suddenly, the mist shrouding the Blood Bone Mountain Range churned as a terrifying aura erupted and spread.

Whoosh~

A blood-robed figure with a skeletal form and a hideously fierce face appeared above the mountain range.

He was no more than ten meters tall, but the aura he emanated was equally vast and magnificent, not at all inferior to Wu Yuan's.

"Devil Emperor Xue Gu?" Wu Yuan's voice was cold and piercing, spreading far and wide.

"You know me?" Devil Emperor Xue Gu's expression was calm. "How should I address you? Since you know this is the core of my domain, may I ask what brings you here?"

Devil Emperor Xue Gu's attitude could be described as cordial.

If it were any other Devil Emperor, encountering an unfamiliar Devil Emperor suddenly forcing their way in without any courtesy, they would likely have started fighting already.

"My name is Xia!" Wu Yuan said indifferently. "I've come here for only one thing. I hope you can hand over Sovereign Gui Chi's true self. I want to take him away."

Devil Emperor Xue Gu's pupils constricted ever so slightly.

This mysterious Devil Emperor truly intends to take me away? This... This...

In the depths of the Blood Bone Mountain Range, Sovereign Gui Chi, who was stationed atop an array disk, also heard Wu Yuan's voice.

Dread gripped his heart. Judging from the destruction of his ether body earlier, if he were to be slain by this Devil Emperor, there would surely be no good outcome.

"Devil Emperor Xia? Do you realize what you're saying?" Devil Emperor Xue Gu's voice crackled with barely contained fury. "Sovereign Gui Chi is my loyal subordinate.

"I can overlook you destroying his ether body. But you dare to come here and demand his true self? Do you truly think you can just walk all over me?" Devil Emperor Xue Gu growled, his gaze boring into Wu Yuan.