200: Eight Realms!?

"What's going on... there are people inside!?"

The scene became noisy once again. Everyone stopped condemning Chu Yuan and Feng Zhao, their eyes fixed intently on the disc high in the sky.

Those two figures remained motionless, as if they were dead... Chu Yuan knew that Kun Mo and Dikin were inside.

Had they already completed the ritual? Or was it still in progress?

He sent out his Divine Sense, wanting to investigate the situation.

However, as soon as it approached the disc, a burning sensation acted upon his Divine Sense... Chu Yuan wasn't surprised. How could something of this level not have a mechanism to prevent spiritual investigation?

"It moved, it moved! They're alive!" someone exclaimed.

Two figures within the disc could be seen; one stretched its body like a waking infant.

The other, however, seemed to have encountered something terrifying, becoming hunched and shriveled... The disc flashed with light again, and in the next moment, the two figures were spat out.

"Screech—!" An angry, murderous hiss rang out. Moving in an instant, it attacked the person closest to it... "He really turned into a Desolate Demon..." Chu Yuan thought solemnly, looking at the massive monster that still retained some characteristics of the Nightmare Insect Clan.

It was missing a left arm, and there was a hideous wound on its right leg... Who else could it be but Kun Mo?

Then the other person could only be Dikin?

Chu Yuan looked up again and saw Dikin, who still seemed to be in a daze high in the air.

He exuded an inexplicable aura, as if he had transcended the world, noble and awe-inspiring... In comparison, Britt from the Supreme Temple looked like a poor imitator.

Many people present knew Dikin, and someone immediately asked, "Dikin! What happened inside the Ascension Tower?

What's the deal with this Desolate Demon?"

Awakened by the shout, Dikin returned to his senses, the light in his eyes fading.

He seemed heavily fatigued, a weariness that was evident in his voice.

"Just a ritual." Dikin glanced casually at Chu Yuan and Feng Zhao. "But it's very dangerous inside. I advise you not to enter."

"It's dangerous, yet you walked out successfully;

Are you implying you're stronger than everyone else here?" someone sneered.

Human nature was like that; unless the gap was massive, no one felt they were inferior to others.

Since Dikin could walk out, why couldn't they?

Even those who had long known about the Ascension Tower began to wonder if the information they had previously obtained was inaccurate.

Perhaps the Ascension Tower wasn't as dangerous as the reports described... Otherwise, why did Dikin emerge successfully and clearly undergo some kind of transformation?

While some were still hesitating, others had already taken action.

Several figures flew toward the gate at the base of the tower, scrambling as if all the benefits would be snatched away if they were a step late... Dikin didn't stop them, but he didn't leave either.

He watched everything silently, like a witness.

The Desolate Demon that Kun Mo had transformed into was still rampaging through the crowd... It seemed the Desolate Demons weren't strong, as both Chu Yuan and the Anomalies could easily handle them, but for an ordinary Seventh Realm Martial Artist;

Thick-skinned, fearless of pain, and with fatal weaknesses that were hard to find... These three points alone made them troublesome enough!

Otherwise, desolate demon cores wouldn't be strategic resources; one reason was their scarcity, and the other was the difficulty of hunting them!

Chu Yuan was also hesitating about whether to enter the Ascension Tower.

He was indeed confident that he was much stronger than the previous Dikin, but some things didn't work like that... Dikin clearly had some secret connection with the Desolate Demon Secret Realm.

Plus the 'great sovereign' he had mentioned before... Did he really clear the Ascension Tower through his own ability? Or did he use a back door, looked after by some entity?

Just then, the Desolate Demon that Kun Mo had become lunged at Chu Yuan.

A few Martial Artists in the distance exchanged glances, their expressions tinged with schadenfreude.

It was they who had very cleverly lured the Desolate Demon over... Who would have thought that in the next moment, their heads would suddenly throb with pain? Amidst seeing stars, they realized a Sharp Weapon had passed through them several times!

Chu Yuan didn't go easy on them at all, even though he didn't take this Desolate Demon seriously.

One move of the Glazed Void Domain, one finger of Life Extinction!

Immediately, the headless body of the Desolate Demon stood frozen in place, trembling slightly.

Chu Yuan gave it no chance to recover. His Divine Sense surged recklessly into its body, located the core, and reached in to dig it out... "Chu Yuan, are we going in?" Feng Zhao asked, his face full of struggle and hesitation.

"Do you want to go?"

"...Yes!"

"Dikin's success is likely fishy... Aren't you afraid of death?" Chu Yuan asked.

Dying in battle would be one thing, but dying in the Ascension Tower... for a powerful expert, it would be far too frustrating!

Being transformed into a Desolate Demon was essentially the same as dying... Feng Zhao shook his head. "I'm more afraid of my martial path failing to advance, of being stuck!

I've been stuck in this Realm for fifty years... You're young; you don't understand this feeling!"

"Even if the ritual is completed, it might not necessarily improve you much;

Wasn't it said that completing the ritual would lead to the Eighth Realm? Look at Dikin; does he look like he's advanced to the Eighth Realm?" Chu Yuan persuaded patiently.

"But..." Feng Zhao knew Chu Yuan made sense, but he was still conflicted.

However, Dikin soon made the choice for him.

He tapped several times in the void, and secret runess appeared, suddenly enveloping the area above Chu Yuan and Feng Zhao.

Then the secret runess lit up, and pillars of white light descended, trapping them inside like a cage!

Feng Zhao's expression changed, and he questioned in a deep voice, "Dikin! What is the meaning of this!?"

Chu Yuan was even more direct, already slashing his sword at the pillars of light!

But with a crisp collision, the pillars of light only shook slightly and then remained motionless... Dikin spoke calmly, "The Zhenwu Bureau is not allowed to enter the Ascension Tower."

"Why!?"

"No reason... Haven't you gotten enough on the Western Continent?"

Chu Yuan looked on coldly. "If you won't let us eat, then no one gets to eat!

Do you believe that by tomorrow, the Desolate Demon Secret Realm will be razed to the ground by the Zhenwu Bureau!?"

Dikin's expression remained unchanged. "I'll be waiting."

"Hahaha, well done, Dikin!" Britt didn't rush into the Ascension Tower like the others. He walked over, his gaze somewhat fervent. "Have you advanced to the Eighth Realm!?"

Only this possibility would allow Dikin to so easily trap the previously overbearing Chu Yuan!

The Eighth Realm is called the Sovereign Realm;

The Sixth Realm can grant one the title of King, shaking a region, hence the name King;

And an Eighth Realm Martial Artist is like a person whose words are law; every gesture carries incredible power, like an Emperor!

If they were a tyrant, they could easily slaughter a nation, or even the entire Earth Star..."