Volume One: The Nature of the Devil Never Changes
Arc: The Great Guerrilla War
Scarlet King looked over and said:
"I know you are there. Why are you hiding?"
From afar, Lin Yue appeared, standing awkwardly and sweating.
"M-My lord, I was only protecting you!"
Scarlet King ignored her and thought:
(Currently, the Black Hole Transformation is a fusion between a black hole, the Heaven-Devouring Technique, and the Evolution Stone. That is why this transformation possesses an absorption ability similar to the Heaven-Devouring Technique, but far weaker.)
(Unlike the Heaven-Devouring Technique, which devours all energy and absorbs it, the black hole only absorbs a quarter of the energy. That is because I do not possess the complete technique.)
(And now… I must stabilize my level, cultivate, remove the impurities, and perhaps break through to a higher level.)
Scarlet King sat atop one of the floating rocks.
He slowly closed his eyes.
Small black holes began appearing around his body, quietly absorbing the surrounding energy with terrifying stillness.
As for Lin Yue…
she did not even dare breathe loudly.
Scarlet King spoke in a sharp, clear voice as he began cultivating:
"Yin and Yang Guards, Lin Yue, watch the area and protect me while I cultivate."
Scarlet King entered deep cultivation, while the guards moved around him; one stood in front of him, and the other behind him.
The qi inside Scarlet King's veins and body began to move, returning to the center—
his Essence Aperture—
before circulating within it.
The primordial sea became denser, larger, and more massive, moving violently like whirlpools inside the Essence Aperture.
Inside his veins, black energy began to move.
These were impurities.
They moved slowly through his veins, clogging them.
At that moment, Scarlet King moved his qi and stopped it at the entrance of the veins connecting the Essence Aperture to the rest of his meridians.
Suddenly, the qi rushed powerfully into the veins.
When it met the impurities, it shattered them like glass. After that, the remaining impurities began dissolving like grains of salt melting into the qi, which moved through the veins with speed and force.
From the outside, a powerful golden aura began emerging from Scarlet King.
It was the aura of flowing qi.
Yang Guard spoke excitedly as he looked at Scarlet King:
"He has already broken through to the second level of Qi Condensation!"
[After two full days of stabilizing his level and removing impurities]
Scarlet King calmly opened his eyes.
He had already broken through to the third level of Qi Condensation, a terrifying breakthrough speed. Now, an internal foundation existed that balanced Scarlet King's external support in cultivation level and strength.
(Now that there is internal support balancing my external support, along with my transformations and immortality, I am far stronger than anyone at my level.)
The system appeared before Scarlet King with his new stats:
[Master's New Strength Stats]
[Title: Devil of Rebirth]
[Cultivation Level: Qi Condensation Realm — Third Level]
[Qi: 385,000 / 745,654]
[Health: 342,683 / 685,365]
[Strength: 652]
[Vitality: 512]
[Speed: 545]
[Durability: 754]
[Senses: 456]
[Intelligence: Meaningless]
[Power Level within the current dimension's standard: Mid-High]
[Attack Power when using the Ming Hao Daggers: +2,200]
Scarlet King thought as he looked at the stats:
(My stats rose by 80 points in everything. That is good. However, the higher my level becomes in the future, the greater the increase in points will be, because the gap between levels becomes larger and larger.)
(Also, because my cultivation level has risen, part of the seal on the Imperial Scales Dagger has been unlocked. That means greater power in battle.)
Scarlet King spoke calmly while looking toward a certain place:
"Now we have work to do, to make the soldiers of our faction stronger."
Yang Guard asked:
"What do you mean, Master?"
Scarlet King replied as he prepared to fly:
"Do you remember when I destroyed the Earth universe, and a black hole formed in its place? That was part of my plan. Even when we join a sect and try to earn merit points, or strengthen our allies by supporting them, that place will be ideal for cultivation."
"The qi there will be denser, stronger, and purer. That is because qi is not absorbed strongly by the black hole, but impurities are absorbed more strongly. Therefore, the qi there will be purer, denser, and stronger, making our faction's trainees stronger and faster in cultivation."
He continued as the jetpack emerged from his back and flames began flowing from its rear openings:
"Now, follow me."
Scarlet King moved and flew powerfully through space. The Yin and Yang Guards shrugged, then flew after him.
Lin Yuan shouted:
"Hey, wait for me!"
He started running, then jumped and flew after them, while Lin Yue remained standing where she was.
She heard a voice inside her head:
(Go to the Heavenly Food Sect, and head to the Ink Rebirth Darkness Faction.)
Lin Yue nodded.
"As you command, my lord."
Lin Yue flew in the opposite direction.
[After hours of flight]
Lin Yuan, who was on Scarlet King's right side, asked while the Yin and Yang Guards flew on the left through the endless vastness of space, filled with stars, explosions, and shining objects:
"There are tens of thousands of black holes in every universe, and the number of universes is almost infinite, so why does that universe matter?"
Yin Guard replied:
"That is because of the size of the black hole itself. All black holes inside universes are considered small, unlike black holes the size of universes. Those are far stronger and much better to cultivate beside."
"They are also better in terms of gravitational force, since you can stay far away from them and draw qi toward yourself without being crushed."
"All major sects, and some first-grade sects, possess supermassive black holes to help their strongest disciples become stronger. So for a faction inside a sect to possess a supermassive black hole is something exceptional. It will raise the faction's value in the sect, which equals additional support from the sect for that faction."
Everyone suddenly stopped in front of a gigantic black hole.
Literally.
The qi in the area was extremely pure, exceptionally dense, and powerful. There was an accretion disk of qi around the black hole, and universes were orbiting it.
Scarlet King spoke:
"This is good… It is far stronger than any supermassive black hole owned by the sects."
"The reason is that it is in a place far from the chaotic center of the dimension, where qi is scattered. But here, it is alone. No one competes with it, so the distant and nearby qi gathers around it."