Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Ling Jiu was very surprised when he heard Leoux’s words, “What did you say? There are other Evogods that can devour souls? How is that possible?”
“It’s true!” Leoux said with a smile. “I received this information from the Evogod’s memory. Like you, this fellow has also devoured the souls of other lives to expand his Soul Nebula!”
“In fact, there is no other race aside from the Evogods that is fit to possess the ability to devour others.”
“Indeed!” Ling Jiu nodded.
He had devoured countless beings, including two Evodgods. In terms of soul power alone, no other being was comparable to the Evogods. Their souls were powerful, especially the second Evogod he had swallowed.
After devouring so many super-clustered lifeforms, Ling Jiu’s Soul Nebula had only expanded to 260 soul stellar units. However, once he swallowed the second Evogod, his Soul Nebula expanded to 7,690 soul stellar units!
The difference was big!
Hence, Ling Jiu hoped that there would be more Evogods out there whom he could devour so that the expansion of his Soul Nebula would be more rapid.
“So, this Evogod has made several clones out of his body, taught them the Eight Laws of Black Hole Evolution, and then deployed them to the star regions nearby to let them build their strength through cultivation training!” Leoux smiled.
“Was he trying to harvest the clones?” Ling Jiu was shocked.
“Yes, that was what his plan!” Leoux nodded slightly. “Somehow, by coincidence or fate, when he was about to devour these clones to achieve his goals—to make a breakthrough and become a cosmic life form—he encountered us. That was a GG for him. How unfortunate for him!”
“Where are those clones?”
Ling Jiu gulped and could not hide the desire in his eyes. “Leoux, I want to devour those Evogod clones to grow my Soul Nebula further!”
His Soul Nebula had reached 7,690 soul stellar units. The figure was not far from the top record achieved by the Evogods: 10,081 soul stellar units.
To break that record, Ling Jiu did not mind waiting!
“I know their locations!” Leoux replied with a smile. “To make the clones grow faster, this Evogod named Yanlong housed all of them near white holes!
“Calculations based on different time-flow speeds show that even the youngest clone has lived for 100,000 years!”
“A hundred thousand years? That’s bounteous!” Ling Jiu licked his lips. “With the Eight Laws of Black Hole Evolution, even if they never devour any souls, they should not be weak since they can absorb the Dark Psionic Energy in the universe.”
“Indeed, they are not weak!”
“What are we waiting for, then? Let’s go and harvest them!”
…
The science and technology mastered by the Evogod Yanlong were of a Grand Unified Civilization. Fortunately, although they were far advanced than Earth’s technology, he could not create wormholes freely like the beings from the Emissian Civilization.
Therefore, Yanlong’s radius of action was limited to a galaxy group.
His clones were housed near the Andromeda Galaxy, and the travel distance to their locations was not an issue with Leoux’s speed.
The next day, Leoux arrived at in the wormhole’s vicinity where Yanlong’s first clone was located. There was only one planet near the wormhole.
Under ultra-fast time flow and an environment that was rich in Dark Bio-energy, the planet had evolved to a state where it could give rise to life. However, it was still a primordial planet.
The whole planet was covered in strange plants as short as grass. Hence, the land looked like a grass field.
There were herds of strange herbivores eating grass, and they looked like cows, but their mouths were in the shape of cylinders. When they ate the grass, their cylinder-shaped mouths covered a large portion of grass and wriggled constantly. It was a rather weird sight to see.
“Where is the first clone, Leoux?” Ling Jiu asked in confusion as he was looking at the extraterrestrial animals all over the mountains.
“Right among these animals!” Leoux said with a smile.
“Among these animals?” Ling Jiu was stunned. “They can’t be animals with intelligence, right? How could they be the Evogods?”
The clones were also considered Evogods!
Also, these Evogods had blended in with the herd of extraterrestrial animals?
That was a stain on the Evogods’ reputation!
Leoux smiled and shook his head. “The fact is, one of the Evogod clones is within the herd of animals below us!” Leoux maneuvered the battleship to capture one of the cow-like animals.
Despite struggling frantically, it could not break free from the black light shackles. Eventually, it was taken to the battleship and brought to Ling Jiu.
“Feel it carefully, Ling Jiu!” Leoux laughed.
In fact, Ling Jiu had already sensed its soul power before Leoux said so. There was a terrifying soul fluctuation coming from the extraterrestrial animal.
The power of its soul was just slightly weaker than that of the Evogod named Yanlong. It was stronger than any other super-clustered lifeforms that he had met so far. In other words, it was the second strongest soul that Ling Jiu had encountered in his life.
“What are you doing? Why have you captured me?”
While the extraterrestrial animal struggled madly, it emitted waves of soul fluctuations.
“Why have we captured you? I’m sorry to tell you that we are from the Time-Space Administration Bureau. We are authorities dedicated to hunting guys like you, who possess the bodies of others for rebirth and disruption of order!” Ling Jiu said dully.
“Your existence has seriously interfered with this planet’s order, so come with us!”
“What are you saying?” When the extraterrestrial animal heard Ling Jiu’s words, horror entered its eyes.
It was just a clone. Although it had acquired the Eight Laws of Black Hole Evolution, a fearsome teaching, it had not inherited any memory about the Evogods or been to other planets.
It had spent all its life on that planet, blending in with the herd of extraterrestrial animals. It had lived on that planet for more than 200,000 years.
The moment it heard Ling Jiu’s words, it was aghast. True enough, it was able to survive until today because it had been possessing the bodies of others and been reborn!
“Okay, stop talking nonsense!” Ling Jiu waved his hand. “Leoux, I’ll let you handle the rest!”
“Roger that!”
Leoux did not take long to break the extraterrestrial animal into soul fragments. Ling Jiu did not leave the place. Instead, he devoured and absorbed them on the spot since the location was near a white hole.
His Soul Nebula then began to expand further.
Seven thousand seven hundred soul stellar units…
Seven thousand seven hundred and fifty soul stellar units…
Seven thousand eight hundred soul stellar units.
…
A hundred years later, after all the soul fragments had been exhausted, Ling Jiu’s Soul Nebula had reached 7,840 soul stellar units, which meant that it had increased by 150 soul stellar units.
The growth was satisfying!
“Let’s harvest the next clone!”
Thus, Ling Jiu and Leoux began their journey to harvest those clones. Before he knew it, a year had passed.
The year had passed at normal speed since they were in a normal zone instead of in the vicinity of a white hole. So, on Earth, a year had passed too.
“How many clones are left, Leoux?”
“One! The Evogod Yanlong created nine clones. We’ve found eight of them, so now there is only one left!”
“One? ” Ling Jiu nodded slightly. “After I devour this clone, we can return to Earth! Speaking of which, how long have we been away from Earth?”
“Well, sometimes we were in the vicinity of white hole; sometimes we had to keep moving in space. Adding everything up, a total of three years has passed on Earth!” Leoux replied.
“Three years? That’s not considered short!” Ling Jiu took a deep breath. “But this time, it is a great gain. My Soul Nebula has reached 9,310 soul stellar units!”
“True! Your current Soul Nebula is indeed massive. It is massive enough to be ranked third in the Evogods’ several dozen million years of history.” Leoux laughed. “When you devour the last clone, you might even be able to break the record of 10,081 soul stellar units and top the ranking!”
“Let’s hope I can break the record!”
Ling Jiu smiled. “Even if I can’t break it, it doesn’t matter. By the time I devour the last clone, I will enter the second stage of the Eight Laws of Black Hole Evolution anyway! ”
“It is indeed the time for that! ” Leoux nodded in agreement. “During the first stage of the Eight Laws of Black Hole Evolution, all you have to do is form the Soul Nebula around your soul. It is the stage where you accumulate energy. It doesn’t have much effect on your soul. However, once you begin the second stage, your soul will undergo transformation!” Leoux could not help but exclaim as he got to that point. “Once your Soul Nebula—at the size of 9,000 soul stellar units—collapses, it will merge with your soul at once. The power of your soul will reach a level beyond imagination!”
“I can’t wait to see that!” Ling Jiu was filled with anticipation too.
During the first stage of the Eight Laws of Black Hole Evolution, the Soul Nebula would just surround the Kindle of the Soul.
Therefore, no matter how big the Soul Nebula grew, the Kindle of the Soul would remain the same. At most, the Kindle of the Soul would just burn more vigorously after absorbing Dark Psionic Energy from the Soul Nebula.
However, things would be different in the second stage. In a very short time, the huge Soul Nebula would collapse and condense on the Kindle of the Soul.
One could imagine the extent of transformation that the Kindle of the Soul would undergo.
After several days of traveling, Leoux finally arrived at the planet where the last clone was located.
The whole planet was gray. There were neither oceans, forests, nor rivers, only gray land.
‘Judging from its appearance, this planet does not look good. Its environment is scarce. Even if it can give rise to life forms, they can’t be strong.’
Nevertheless, the moment Ling Jiu stepped on the planet’s surface, he knew he was wrong.
The unremarkable gray planet emanated terrifying live fluctuations—not just one but tens of thousands!
The more bizarre part was that there was nothing beyond the tens of thousands of terrifying life fluctuations that he had detected. It was as if the entire planet only had tens of thousands of inhabitants!
“This planet… is a little bizarre!”
Ling Jiu stood high and mighty on the planet’s surface while he looked at the planet under his feet. A bright glint flashed in his eyes. “This is similar to the Demon-Sealing Tower’s condition!”
“You’re right!” Leoux smiled and said, “This planet was originally used by the Caius Titans as a prison planet to keep death-row inmates!
“Its time flow is super fast, with a ration as high as 10,000:1!
“That means, even super-clustered lifeforms can only live on this planet for ten years!
“That’s right. Ten years mean ten years in the normal region of the universe!”
“I get what you mean!”
Ling Jiu nodded slightly. The lifespan of a super-clustered life form was only 100,000 years at most. With a 10,000:1 time flow ratio, it could only live for 10 years.
“Furthermore, no planet exists within tens of thousands of light-years from this planet. Hence, even if the imprisoned criminals wanted to break out and escape from this planet, they could only rely on flights. Eventually, they would die on their way during the long interstellar journey. Tens of thousands of light-years… That’s just too far away!” Leoux continued.
“Caius Titans really know how to pick a place!” Ling Jiu could not help but retort. “Such a planet is definitely a suitable location to be used as a prison. When the death-row inmates arrived here, they would have been in a dilemma to break out or not. This is just too—”
“Actually, this is normal. Many civilizations look for planets similar to this one to use them as prisons. It isn’t something unusual in the universe!” Leoux said.
“All right!” Ling Jiu nodded, “Let’s look for the last clone! Wait a minute. Since we’re here, let’s ‘relieve’ the inmates on this planet from their sufferings!”
“These inmates have to continue to suffer on this planet even though the Caius Titans have already been annihilated. Their lives are just too hard!”
“Okay! Let’s ‘relieve’ them!” The two had been together for many years, so Leoux knew the underlying meaning of Ling Jiu’s words. He laughed when he heard Ling Jiu and happily accepted the suggestion.
“Let’s go!”
With a word, Ling Jiu blinked onto the planet. Once he arrived there, he felt a terrifying gravitational pressure on him.
“This gravity…” Ling Jiu raised his eyebrows.
“The gravity of this planet is 130 times that of Earth!” Leoux replied.
“No wonder!”
To Ling Jiu, gravity that was 130 times that of Earth was not an issue. He began to take a good look at the prison planet, which was specially used to imprison death-row inmates.
The sky was dark and groggy like ink. Among the thick black clouds, there were streaks of lightning flashing back and forth.
The ground was as black as burned coal, as though it had been burned by a fire or blasted by a nuclear bomb.
In addition, there were black stones, black plains, and black hillocks… It seemed that the whole world was black!
As Ling Jiu looked around the unfamiliar environment, he could not help shaking his head. “Having to live on such a planet is really a nightmare. The inmates here are so pitiful!”
“Well, it is a prison planet, a place equivalent to a prison facility on Earth. You can’t expect the environment of a prison to be good, right?” Leoux laughed.
“That’s true!”
Ling Jiu started to sense for life forms, and he immediately detected the first target. With just a step, he arrived in the location where it was.
The place was a hillock with a height of about one hundred meters. It was black with no sight of grass. At the foot of the hillock, there was a three-meter-tall cave.
“I know you’ve found us. Come out!”
…
Hiram was a native of Prison VIII. He had lived on the planet since he was born.
Prison VIII was a planet with a very poor environment. Hiram did not understand why he had been born there. He had heard from his elders that his ancestors, who had been exiled there forever after committing a felony, had lived, multiplied, and settled on the planet.
Hiram hated his ancestors. From his point of view, if they had not committed a felony, he would not have gotten implicated and been born there.
The planet was hell. Its environment was extremely harsh, and it lacked resources. Basic necessity such as food was scarce too!
Yet, the greatest threat was not the lack of food but other people on the planet.
The place was chaotic and lawless. Neither humanity nor rules existed. There was only one rule, survival of the fittest!
On the planet, the weak ones were food and slaves. Only the strong ones who topped the food chain were qualified to survive there.
Therefore, the weak tended to stay hidden, and they desperately built their strength through cultivation training.
Fortunately, the planet was extremely rich with Dark Bio-energy. It helped better attainment in cultivation training.
Hiram was a genius. He had become a super-clustered life form when he was only 5,000 years old.
However, Hiram dared not to let his guard down because super-clustered life forms were not the strongest life forms on the planet. He was still exposed to the risk of getting killed.
Hiram had been lying low for 5,000 years. Long years of caution had heightened his vigilance to the max.
He had noticed Ling Jiu’s presence when Ling Jiu had shown up, so he had hidden inside a cave and stayed alert. He was keeping Ling Jiu under his watchful eye.
If the person was weaker than him, he would kill him without hesitation and feed on his meat. He could not recall when was the last time he had eaten.
If the person was stronger than him, he would restrain his own aura and lie low until the person left.
Unexpectedly, a dull voice rang in his ears. “Show yourself. I know you’ve found me!”
Hiram became stiff and hesitated suddenly. As a person walking in the dark, he had to lie low in the corners and ambush his opponent rather than face them openly.
“What should I do?” Hiram was caught in a dilemma.
