Swoosh!

As Alex unfurled his wings fully, the world changed. The sky dimmed instantly, swallowed by a suffocating gloom, and then bled into red. A red hue flooded almost everything in the world, painting the sky and the earth in a shade of blood.

Rumble~

All of a sudden, a monstrous force poured down from above like a heavy hammer slamming down on the earth. A loud rumbling noise echoed thunderously, and the next moment, a wave of fierce blood energy swept in every direction throughout the entire Domain World.

Most importantly, this wave seemed to carry a devouring property. It didn't affect the likes of trees, mountains, rivers, or cities, nor the Domain World itself. But it affected every living creature, including monsters and beasts.

They all felt a small amount of blood being absorbed by an invisible energy. Even Serena wasn't able to escape this sensation. A small portion of her blood was forcefully absorbed by that wave of energy as well.

Serena immediately felt her heart shake violently. It was not because of the blood that had disappeared from her body, but due to something very familiar that she sensed from the invisible wave of energy that had absorbed her blood. A look of disbelief appeared on her face, her lips trembled as she muttered, "What is going on? How come… the power of the abyss appears here? Could it be…?"

Her eyes widened as she suddenly had a wild guess.

"It must be that Saint Sovereign… Now I understand. He must have suffered greatly at the hands of the "abyss". Maybe he had no choice but to run and hide here. If that is true, then it also explains why he chose to seal this entire galaxy and cut it off from the rest of the universe. He was hiding from the abyss itself!"

Her words may be shaky, but she was sure that must be the case. Otherwise, there was no need for a powerful Saint Sovereign to seal an entire galaxy and cut off its connection from the rest of the universe.

Moreover, she was rarely afraid of anything, but the abyss was something even she felt chills thinking about.

Serena was well aware of just how terrifying "Abyss" truly is. Even to her, the origin of Abyss is far too mysterious... and dangerous.

While Serena was lost in thought, countless other cultivators, monsters, and beasts across the entire Domain World were all shaken. The wave of blood-absorbing energy had swept through everything alive, sparing none, devouring a little bit of their blood.

Unknowingly, Alex's cultivation immediately improved by a huge margin. Unfortunately, he was still far from reaching a breakthrough point. After all, cultivation after reaching the True Divinity Stage is no longer about energy; it is all about comprehension of Heavenly Dao.

However, exactly because cultivation after the True Divinity Stage was entirely reliant on comprehension of the Heavenly Dao, Alex believed his cultivation speed would increase at least tenfold.

After all, while he could not directly replicate another person's energy cultivation, he could certainly replicate their comprehension of the Heavenly Dao. As long as he could step out of this sealed galaxy, he would be able to replicate the treasures of countless stronger beings and reach breakthrough points with terrifying speed. What takes others millions of years to achieve, he could accomplish in an instant. Such a difference in cultivation speed was too terrifying to imagine.

Somewhere else, the man with the golden-red sphere inside his dantian was dumbfounded. His face twisted in shock as he muttered, "What was that? How could it be? How was my blood touched out of nowhere?"

He raised his head to look at the blood-red sky and instantly felt that something was no longer normal. This sky dyed in red hue, that invisible wave of blood-devouring energy, and perhaps even the rumbling of the land he had felt earlier—none of it seemed simple. It was better to stay put for now rather than act recklessly for the time being.

Not just him, all living beings across the Domain World stood in shock, confusion, and fear.

Meanwhile, Alex knew nothing of this chaos. He didn't care what was happening across the world. His eyes were locked firmly on Zerath.

Swoosh~

The next moment, Alex flapped his wings with a loud swoosh sound. His blood-red wings beat fiercely, and in an instant, his body became a red beam of light that cut through the gloom of the hall.

He appeared right in front of Zerath in the blink of an eye.

Alex clenched his fist tightly. A thick layer of blood-red mist appeared out of nowhere that wrapped around his fist completely. Most importantly, something very dark and sinister was mixed within this blood-red energy. This dark and sinister sensation came from a tiny bit of energy from the abyss, which appeared along with blood energy after Alex's transformation.

Alex had actually managed to draw energy out of the abyss, which is no small feat. Even a powerful person like Zerath, the Horn of Abyss, cannot freely draw energy from the abyss.

Alex was able to do this because of his Blood Devouring Abyss Bloodline. Alex was unaware, but this bloodline belonged to one of the direct descendants of the "Abyss". Moreover, because Alex replicated this bloodline, what he obtained was an incredibly pure bloodline, even though it was incomplete.

As he punched out, Alex's fist pierced through the air with such power that space itself cracked and shattered around it.

BOOM!

Alex's fist smashed into Zerath's chest.

Zerath was stunned. He hadn't expected Alex to erupt with such a sudden transformation of power. He had underestimated him, and before he could even react properly, the punch had already landed.

He tried to twist his body away, but it was too late. He was unable to dodge Alex's punch and was sent flying backward.

"Urghhh!"

Zerath's massive body crashed heavily onto the ground. He coughed up a mouthful of thick, dark blood. But just then, the blood he coughed didn't even reach the ground and disappeared. It was swallowed by an invisible force.

Obviously, it was devoured by Alex's bloodline.

All of a sudden, Alex again felt his body going through a kind of transformation. He sensed every bit of blood that had been taken earlier from all creatures inside the Domain World had started feeding his body, causing his physique to grow even stronger. His muscles hardened all in an instant, his bones shone faintly, and his blood energy became denser and more terrifying.

That was not all. Even the glowing patterns etched across his entire body deepened all of a sudden. His blood wings behind his back became strangely beautiful and more majestic.

Thud!

Zerath's body had just hit the ground when Alex appeared before him again in a flash of red light.

This time, Alex didn't hesitate. He clenched his fist once more, but instead of plain blood-red energy, his fist was wrapped in a flame that flickered with half shadow and half fire.

This was his Shadow Devouring Flame.

As his fist slammed into Zerath's chest again, the Shadow Devouring Flame spread like liquid darkness. The flame didn't burn like normal fire at all. There was no sizzling heat, no burning pain, and no rise in temperature. Instead, wherever it touched, Zerath's flesh began to rot and collapse.

One point to note here is that the Shadow Devouring Flame is only a Spirit God-ranked treasure. But one of its abilities is simply terrifying. It can create a small, controlled black hole that can pull in and disintegrate all matter and energy within a certain radius.

This ability is simply too terrifying and cannot be measured by a grade. All it needs is a certain amount of energy as fuel. The more energy Alex pours in, the more powerful this ability will be.

Of course, there is still a limit since the Shadow Devouring Flame is nothing more than a Spirit God-ranked treasure in the end.

On the bright side, it can still evolve by devouring all kinds of flames and fire-attributed materials above Divine Grade. Alex simply has a mine of such materials after obtaining the true inheritance of Flame Sword Sovereign and replicating them.

Before attacking Zerath, Alex had already planned to utilize the Shadow Devouring Flame. So, he hadn't hesitated to let this flame an enormous number of fire-attributed materials, causing it to first evolve into Origin God-rank.

It was then that he attacked.

By now, the Shadow Devouring Flame had already evolved into a False Treasure.

.....

[Name: Shadow Devouring Flame.

Rank: False.

Details: The Shadow Devouring Flame is a formidable and unique flame that has undergone an extraordinary evolution by merging the properties of the Devouring Flame and the Dark Flame Liquid. As a Spirit God-ranked flame, it is among the most powerful flames of its kind.

The flame's appearance is a mesmerizing dance of dark shadows intertwined with blue flames, creating an ethereal and ominous aura. The darkness within the blue flame seems to absorb light, giving it a shadowy, almost void-like quality.

This flame has all the abilities of both the Devouring Flame and the Dark Flame Liquid. Just like the original Devouring Flame, it can strip an opponent of their cultivation, weakening them drastically while simultaneously empowering its master.

Additionally, the flame's dark nature allows it to operate stealthily, emitting little to no light, which can cloak its aura, making it difficult to detect.

This flame can transform between two states. Other than its original form, it can transform into liquid form as well. Most importantly, it can now create a small, controlled black hole that pulls in and disintegrates all matter and energy within a certain radius, making it a devastating offensive weapon.

Note: This flame can continue to grow infinitely after devouring all kinds of flames and fire-attributed materials above Divine Grade.]