Evolution: From Little Devil to Devil Empress

Chapter 603: Authority

The star was not yet fully formed.

If Liora had to estimate, no more than one-sixth of its surface had truly taken shape.

Yet even just that was enough. Liora felt a subtle transformation occur within herself.

A new force awakened inside her body, as though some long-dormant authority had finally awakened.

At first, she couldn’t identify what had changed inside of her.

Only after carefully examining her state for several moments did she have a guess regarding the answer.

With a wave of her hand, a streak of green light shot out from one corner of the Cosmic Sea, landing gently in her palm.

It was a jade slip—one of the many she had obtained during her journey through the city fragment.

The last time she had examined it, its contents had been completely blank.

It obviously contained either a cultivation technique or information forbidden from being transmitted by the unknown invisible force.

Now, however, Liora had decided to try once more.

As her consciousness swept out and entered the jade slip, the expected silence never came.

Instead, a torrent of information poured directly into her mind.

Countless words, making up a cultivation technique.

It contained circulation routes of the so-called Qi. Methods of tempering the meridians. Insights into concepts she had never encountered before.

Clearly, the jade slip had indeed contained a cultivation technique, exactly as she had long suspected.

And with the birth of the incomplete cultivation star, she had finally obtained the authority to access it.

Liora made no attempt to digest the information. Instead, she suddenly raised her head to look at her surroundings.

The entire Cosmic Sea had unknowingly begun trembling.

It was subtle, almost imperceptible, yet she could clearly feel an invisible force descending upon it, attempting to interfere with its very existence.

Or rather, it was attempting to erase it altogether.

Fortunately, before Liora could react, the Cosmic Sea had already moved on its own.

The Predation talent that formed as its foundation awakened automatically.

At the same time, the countless Law Stars scattered throughout the Cosmic Sea lit up one after another.

Their radiance intertwined into a vast suppressive force.

The two invisible forces, one external and one from within, collided.

Within moments, the tremors ceased.

The invading power was completely expelled as the Cosmic Sea emerged victorious.

From start to finish, all of this had happened in the span of a few moments.

Had it been anyone else, they might have dismissed it as nothing more than a mere illusion.

Liora, however, knew better.

Not only was she certain that everything had truly happened, but she also had a rough guess as to the origin behind this sudden change.

“Is this the force responsible for erasing all the traces of the cultivation civilization?”

“Did it detect me the moment I gained access to a cultivation technique?”, Liora wondered.

She could tell that the force itself wasn’t particularly powerful. At least, not in terms of raw destructive power.

If she had to describe it, she would simply say that it existed on an extraordinarily high level.

It was similar to the gap between different Devil stages.

Even if an Archdevil and a Little Devil possessed the same amount of energy and fundamental strength, the two could never truly be compared.

A single wisp of an Archdevil’s demonic energy could effortlessly overwhelm billions belonging to a Little Devil with absolute ease.

The mysterious force was much the same.

Its actual strength was limited. Its authority, however, was quite terrifying.

“It seems my initial guess was correct. The one behind all of this is the Will of the World.”

“Only something like that could possibly wield such authority within the Cosmic Universe.”

“Is it hiding the existence of the Eras? Or of the cultivators in particular?”

This conclusion also explained why Liora had managed to avoid its suppression.

In terms of life level, she and this world were not much different.

If anything, she stood faintly above it. The Cosmic Sea was the prototype of the Origin Sea after all.

By obtaining a trace of the cultivation civilization’s aura and integrating it with herself, Liora had managed to bypass the restrictions set by the Will of the Cosmic Universe.

After pondering this for a moment, Liora looked once more at the jade slip before casually tossing it back into the Cosmic Sea.

She did not attempt to read any additional techniques, nor did she investigate the remaining jade slips for any new information.

Instead, another idea surfaced in her mind.

Her phantom disappeared before reappearing beside a colossal star. The Law it represented instantly rippled.

Rather than resisting her actions, the Law willingly shifted according to her intent, subtly strengthening every movement she made.

Liora extended her hand toward the star’s core.

When she withdrew it a mere moment later, a cocoon woven entirely from cosmic dust rested in her palm.

Within it slumbered a remnant soul. It belonged to the unknown cultivator she had captured.

Without any hesitation, Liora traced a finger through the air. The cocoon silently split apart, like a cicada emerging from its shell.

The remnant soul’s eyelids trembled before slowly opening.

Then, much to its astonishment, the ancient powerhouse came face to face with Liora once more.

—

While everything unfolded inside the Cosmic Sea, time in the outside world continued to flow uninterrupted.

The creation of the cultivation star, the investigation of the jade slip, and even Liora’s decision to summon the remnant soul had consumed a considerable amount of time.

That time was relatively long.

At the very least, it was long enough for some changes to take place within the trial hall.

Out of nowhere, a brilliant golden radiance erupted, illuminating the entire chamber and shattering the silence that had existed since the trial’s beginning.

Although it lasted for barely a second before fading away, the light was more than enough to draw everyone’s attention.

One after another, the participants opened their eyes. Their gazes converged upon the source of the disturbance, their eyes filled with curiosity.

What they saw immediately caused their expressions to change.

A demon sat cross-legged amidst countless puzzle pieces. The golden flash seemed to have shattered the concealment barrier he had erected, exposing everything about him.

Everyone was able to take a look at his progress.

And the result shocked them.

With a quick sweep of her consciousness, the Zerg Queen realized that Elaouthr had completed over one percent of the puzzle.

The percentage itself appeared insignificant. Yet everyone present understood what it truly represented.

The Zerg Queen instinctively glanced toward the tiny section of her own puzzle that had been completed.

Only a few thousand pieces had been successfully assembled.

Compared to the billions before her, it was almost negligible.

From the very beginning, she had believed this trial favored her the most.

After all, among everyone present, her soul should have been the strongest.

Combined with the terrifying processing ability required to command an endless swarm of Zerg, victory should have belonged to her.

Throughout the trial, her greatest concern had never been completing the puzzle. It had been preparing for the desperate attacks the tentacled Emperor would inevitably launch after she obtained the inheritance.

Now, however, the Zerg Queen realized those worries had been completely unnecessary.

There was a person in the room who was even faster than her!

A demon!

Judging from his current speed, there was little doubt that he would be the first to complete the trial.

The Zerg Queen knew very well that she was not the one lagging behind. Instead, it was this person who was too extraordinary and walked far ahead of everyone.

So, the decision she made was only natural.

“This person must be killed!”