Chapter 723: Self-Upgrade (Part 8)

While letting out heartbreaking screams, the Blood Ancestor cursed with his remaining strength.

In the process of being devoured, his consciousness was slowly ground away bit by bit.

His voice went from shrill at the beginning to weaker and weaker, more and more blurred…

Until the very end.

As the last wisp of blood mist was inhaled into his belly, this sealed heaven and earth finally completely returned to tranquility.

The Blood Ancestor, this powerhouse of the old era who awakened from the ancient ruins, was thus completely obliterated in both body and Soul, failing to leave even a trace of his existence.

In mid-air.

Mr. Duan closed his eyes, savoring the newly surged, pure, and massive life Origin within his body.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, a flash of satisfied blood-red light crossing the depths of his eyes.

He raised his hand, wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, put the polite smile back on his face, and said softly toward the empty space ahead:

"Thank you for the hospitality."

Very good.

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping past the devastated Falling Star Valley and looking toward the distant horizon.

The first one has been successfully absorbed.

"Absorb the old fellows in the remaining seven ruins together…"

Mr. Duan's mouth split open, revealing a grim smile, his voice as low as a devil's whispering.

"By then, even this Heavenly Dao will no longer be able to do anything to me."

However, just as he was immersed in the pleasure of growing power and infinite prospects for the future, the smile on Mr. Duan's face stiffened without warning.

On his calm face, his brows suddenly furrowed, as if he had sensed some unexpected change.

"Hmm?"

He let out a soft snort of doubt, a rare flash of shock, anger, and incomprehension crossing his profound eyes.

The next second, his figure vanished out of thin air on the spot, as if he had never appeared, leaving not a shred of energy fluctuation.

…

On the solitary peak of the distant horizon, Archbishop Andrew and several arbitration knights beside him were still immersed in the previous earth-shattering scene, unable to extricate themselves for a long time.

That world-destroying thunder dragon sufficient to erase everything…

That completely unreasonable time stagnation and spatial blockade standing above the rules…

Finally, there was that terrifying scene of devouring billions of blood mists completely…

All of this, like the most terrifying nightmare, was deeply branded in the depths of their Soul.

A young arbitration knight swallowed hard, his voice becoming hoarse and dry due to fear: "Ar… Archbishop Your Excellency… Wh… What kind of monster is that?"

"He… He actually dared to hard-resist the heavenly punishment!"

What made them most creepy was that they originally thought this mysterious powerhouse was in cahoots with the ancient monster awakened in the ruins.

Yet, in the end, after joining forces to repel the will of heaven, this man turned his face without hesitation, cruelly devouring the terrifying existence named the "Blood Ancestor" like livestock!

That ruthlessness, that apathy, that posture of viewing all things as food, made people's hearts chill even more than the Blood Ancestor's naked madness.

Archbishop Andrew's expression became grave to the extreme, staring dead at the direction where Mr. Duan disappeared, his eyes filled with dread and bewilderment.

Another trusted subordinate couldn't help asking in a low voice: "Your Excellency, where on earth does this man… come from? I have never heard of it, nor have I seen in any ancient books, that there is such a terrifying existence in this world."

Andrew was silent for a long time before slowly shaking his head, his tone carrying a trace of powerlessness that even he hadn't noticed.

"I don't know…"

He let out a long sigh, his gaze becoming increasingly profound.

"Perhaps…"

"The Origin of this man, and the truth behind all these changes, looking across the entire Free Federation, perhaps only that aloof Lord Holy Master can know a thing or two…"

…

Meanwhile.

Mr. Duan's figure appeared beneath a bottomless, pitch-black abyss.

This is the extremely dark side of the world, a land of the Void Realm where even light cannot reach.

Yet at this moment, this absolute darkness was illuminated like daylight by a dazzling light.

The source of the light was precisely the unimaginably huge ancient tree at the bottom of the abyss.

——The origin sacred tree!

It took root in the Void Realm, its canopy extending infinitely upward, as if connecting to another dimension.

Only at this moment, this sacred tree that should have exuded life and sacred aura was trembling violently.

Its entire body bloomed with an unprecedented, even somewhat madly brilliant light, accompanied by the translucent, amber-like fruits on the tree flickering under the illumination of the light.

Looking closely, imprisoned inside each fruit was a blurry humanoid figure.

These figures were precisely the remnant Souls of top powerhouses that Mr. Duan had spent countless efforts collecting from various eras.

And now, under the scouring of the sacred tree's violent light, these remnant Souls let out silent wails of ultimate pain.

Their Soul bodies were thinning and becoming transparent at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if they would be completely "digested" at any time.

Seeing this scene, Mr. Duan's eternal, calm mask was finally completely torn apart.

His brows were deeply twisted into the shape of the character "chuan", and his eyes held unsuppressable fury.

With a single step forward, his figure instantly appeared before the huge trunk of the origin sacred tree, raising his head toward the brilliant canopy and issuing a bone-chilling question.

"Yuan!"

"What are you doing?!"

…

Within the mental world where Zhou Huai was located.

Everything was still so peaceful and serene.

He sat cross-legged under an equally unimaginably huge white giant tree, with his eyes closed and a serene expression.

And that giant tree was gently lowering thousands of branches, continuously converging extremely pure, milky-white energy onto Zhou Huai's body.

Zhou Huai at this moment was immersed in an unprecedented wondrous feeling.

Under the baptism of this energy, he could clearly "hear" crisp sounds of "crack, crack" coming from the depths of his Soul.

As if countless invisible shackles were being unlocked layer by layer.

The rules belonging to the Professionals System that once bound him, and the bottom-line iron laws belonging to this world, were being washed, disintegrated, and reshaped by this higher-dimensional power—imperiously yet incomparably gently!

Zhou Huai had a strong premonition.

From this moment on, he seemed to have truly become different.

He was no longer that player who needed to rely on the System and the Clone.

He was completing the most thorough transformation toward a brand new, unknown level of life that truly belonged to "himself"!

However, just as his consciousness was immersed in this reborn sublimation and about to touch that higher Realm barrier——

A trembling mother's voice filled with panic and eagerness exploded without warning in the depths of his mind!

"Not good!"

"Duan is back!"