Having swallowed three Demon King inner cores that were no weaker than its own, the
The invisible shackles broke, its own limitations shattered, and amid the Shadow Leopard's agonized yet exhilarated roar, its aura finally underwent a qualitative transformation from the accumulated quantitative change.
The rumble of thunder was unceasing. The might of the Heavenly Tribulation bore down upon it, dealing damage while simultaneously tempering its power.
Until, at a certain moment, a visible shockwave suddenly swept outward from the Shadow Leopard in all directions. An aura of unprecedented power radiated from its body.
"It succeeded!"
She had thought the Shadow Leopard was doomed, yet it had found life in desperation and even turned disaster into fortune.
"Remarkable." Hou Qinghai stood beside her, shaken by the Shadow Leopard's unyielding will. Putting himself in its place, if he had faced such a situation during his own breakthrough, he probably would have had no choice but to wait for death.
Silently sensing the Shadow Leopard's current aura, Hou Qinghai said, "Third-rank Demon Emperor."
When a Demon King broke through, it became a Demon Emperor. This rank was modeled after the ranking system of the human race's Opening Heaven Realm, corresponding to the human ranks.
In other words, a third-rank Demon Emperor Shadow Leopard was now equivalent to a third-rank Opening Heaven Realm cultivator.
Such strength was naturally nothing significant among the human race. If the Shadow Leopard had advanced using human methods, its ultimate limit would be only fifth-rank.
Looking at the various great realm battlefields today, fifth-rank Opening Heaven Realm cultivators were everywhere.
But it had advanced using ancient methods, which meant limitless potential. As long as it continuously refined its inner core and absorbed sufficient power, it could climb step by step to the height of ninth-rank.
Of course, this would undoubtedly require an enormous span of time. The strongest Demon Emperors among those from the Myriad
In the dense forest, many Demon Kings had been rushing in from all directions. However, with the successive falls of the White-Haired Ape King, Iron-Winged Eagle King, and Boulder Snake King, these Demon Kings all retreated into hiding and withdrew slowly.
They had originally intended to use today's events to hold the human race accountable, even resolving to breach several human sect gates, utterly destroy the alliance pact from centuries past, and drive the humans out of the Myriad Demon Realm. But now that the very Demon Kings who had instigated everything were dead, what was the point of staying?
"Not enough, still not enough!" the Shadow Leopard growled.
Qin Xue also finally noticed something unusual. Logically, since the Shadow Leopard had successfully broken through, its aura should have quickly stabilized. But in reality, its aura—comparable to a third-rank Demon Emperor—not only failed to stabilize but continued to climb.
Amid the flashing lightning, the Shadow Leopard suddenly vanished from its spot once more.
Soon, a miserable beast roar came from the distance, mixed with an angry question from a Demon King: "Why?!"
With that Demon King's wretched death, the tribulation clouds that had been about to slowly disperse suddenly thickened once more. Within them, the might of heaven was brewing again.
Another beast roar rang out, only to be abruptly cut short.
In an instant, the jungle that had quieted down erupted like salt tossed into a pot of boiling oil, going completely berserk. Those Demon Kings that had been hiding and slowly retreating seemed to sense some dire danger. They could no longer be bothered to conceal themselves, spurring their demonic power as they retreated at full speed toward their own territories.
One Demon King even roared, "Shadow Emperor, you've already broken through to Demon Emperor—why must you hunt us all down?!"
There was no answer—only slaughter and consumption!
Qin Xue's face turned pale again as she gazed at the thickening tribulation clouds in the sky and the bolts of lightning that kept striking down. "What is the Leopard Emperor doing?"
This tribulation had already been overcome. The Leopard Emperor had become a Demon Emperor, yet it continued to hunt down those attacking Demon Kings with no intention of letting any go.
Even though it had just advanced, the gap in strength between a Demon Emperor and a Demon King was unimaginably vast—let alone the fact that the Leopard Emperor was carrying out this slaughter under the bombardment of tribulation lightning. The Heavenly Tribulation's lightning struck indiscriminately, and no Demon King that the Leopard Emperor approached could withstand it.
Powerful Demon King auras were extinguished one after another. In the blink of an eye, four or five Demon Kings had met their demise. The Shadow Leopard had always been extremely fast, and now that it had broken through to Demon Emperor, it was much faster than before. If one looked down from high above, they would see a leopard-shaped bolt of lightning racing ceaselessly through the jungle, like an electric dragon coursing across the earth—the trails of lightning emanating from the Shadow Leopard's ravaged body.
Its injuries were actually not light, but it had never felt as good as it did today. It immediately knew its choice had been correct.
A mere third-rank Demon Emperor was far from the endpoint of this advancement!
Hou Qinghai was also stunned, but he quickly seemed to remember something. "The Great Emperor!"
"What?" Qin Xue was taken aback for a moment, then realized. "Husband, you mean—it wants to become the Great Emperor of the Myriad Demon Realm?"