Swallowing the entire Demon Realm was a massive and prolonged endeavor. Setting aside the fact that absorbing each continent took considerable time, the remaining Demon Saints were no easy opponents either. Attempting to devour their territories naturally could not go without interference.
However, the recent changes in the Mysterious World Pearl had given Yang Kai an additional flight of fancy: what if one day, Gun Gun could swallow an entire continent in a single gulp? If that truly came to pass, then who would care whether those Demon Saints agreed or not? He would simply bring Gun Gun to their territory—a release, a retraction, and one continent would be gone. Another release, another retraction, and yet another continent would vanish…
With Bei Li Mo's territories completely consumed, the next in line was naturally Yu Rumeng's domain.
Starting from the Cloud Shadow Continent—Lan Yuan, Phantom Shadow, Fei Yun… one after another, continent after continent disappeared from the map of the Demon Realm, expanding the Small Mysterious World's territory and the power of its laws.
On the Small Mysterious World, atop an unnamed mountain, inside a wooden cabin, Huo Lun silently circulated his cultivation technique. Demonic energy roared across his body and his stomach rumbled like thunder—all because he had swallowed a Myriad Demon Pill and was currently refining it. The energy stored within a Myriad Demon Pill was immensely vast, and as a mere low-grade Demon King, refining a single Myriad Demon Pill would take him several months at minimum.
He originally had no mood for Cultivation. This world was bizarre—fissures would periodically crack open, and then fragments of continents would come rumbling through, putting everyone on edge. Besides, this world had some kind of invisible restrictive force, like unseen shackles binding him, making him feel thoroughly uncomfortable. He couldn't wield power beyond a certain threshold, limited to whatever tier the world's laws could withstand.
What was the point of Cultivation in a world like this? Even if he advanced to mid-grade or high-grade Demon King, he would still only be equivalent to a Return Void Realm or Void King Realm cultivator…
But ever since he had sensed this world slowly beginning to change, Huo Lun's previously despondent mood had brightened once more. The laws of this world might still be underwhelming, but at least they were developing in a positive direction. On top of that, after overhearing Yang Kai's conversation with Chang Tian and Bei Li Mo the other day—and learning of Yang Kai's plans and intentions—the desire to resume his Cultivation had stirred back to life.
His current cultivation at low-grade Demon King had not yet reached its peak, so he naturally intended to keep pushing until he hit his bottleneck. That way, the moment this world's laws evolved to the point of supporting a mid-grade Demon King, he could immediately break through!
Every cultivator yearned for greater heights of martial prowess—this had nothing to do with whether one was human or demon. Powerful strength had always been the goal of every warrior striving to reach the summit.
While he was hungrily refining the medicinal effects of the Myriad Demon Pill, Huo Lun suddenly furrowed his brow and let out a resigned sigh.
Someone was coming.
He had become the first resident of the Small Mysterious World's newly expanded territory. At first he had been lonely, but ever since Yang Kai had begun devouring one continent after another, this world had grown increasingly lively. Though the territory kept expanding, the demons were curious about this new world—many of them, once they had confirmed their safety, had taken to wandering about and exploring.
Over the past several months, quite a few visitors had come to this unnamed mountain, though most merely passed through without lingering. Occasionally, upon noticing that Huo Lun had settled down here, a few of them would grow curious and exchange a few words with him.
At first, Huo Lun had been somewhat enthusiastic, leveraging his advantage as the world's first resident to chat at length with his visitors. But as time went on, the whole affair had grown tiresome. Especially after he had decided to resume his Cultivation and push for mid-grade Demon King, he had set up a restriction barrier around his cabin to keep others away.
Now someone had arrived and triggered the barrier—of course he could sense it.
But Huo Lun had no intention of acknowledging them. The Myriad Demon Pill was an incredibly precious treasure. Even though he had obtained a thousand of them, he had never been in the habit of wasting a single one. Interrupting now wouldn't entirely negate the pill's effects, but they would certainly suffer a significant reduction.
He paid no attention, but whoever had come seemed rather interested in the place. They walked around the cabin for a moment, then stopped.
And then…
The restriction was suddenly broken.
Huo Lun's eyelid twitched, and an instant later he was on his feet in a blaze of fury. He flung open the door and bellowed, "Which little bastard—" His words cut off abruptly, and he stood staring blankly ahead.
Before him stood a woman with a slightly pallid complexion who looked delicate and frail, standing there in a daze. Beside her, a grotesque, snarling face—the sign of his restriction being broken—was slowly fading away.
He could no longer bring himself to continue the tirade. The woman was breathtakingly beautiful. In the instant their eyes met, Huo Lun's fury was snuffed out entirely. Her expression at that moment—like a child who knew she had done something wrong—made it simply impossible for him to keep scolding her. But even if he wasn't shouting anymore, he was still quite irritated inside. He had clearly set up a restriction in the area; anyone with eyes should have been able to discern the owner's refusal of visitors. What was wrong with this woman? Not only had she not left, she had actually broken through his restriction—and in far too short a time, no less.
Which meant her perception and cultivation were definitely above his own. But Huo Lun wasn't afraid of anyone.
He had met several Demon Saints! And every single one of them had treated him politely. Who in this Demon Realm was there left to fear? Besides, in this peculiar world, due to the limitations of heaven and earth's laws, the level of power anyone could wield had a definite ceiling. Everyone was essentially brought to the same starting line—if it really came to a fight, who knew who might actually come out on top.
A look of annoyance settled onto his face as Huo Lun said, "What is wrong with you? Why did you break through my restriction?"
A faint blush crept across the woman's pale cheeks, and she hastened to apologize. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—I just wanted to take a look at what kind of restriction it was. I had no idea I would accidentally break it."