Zhang Nu showed no mercy as Morton the Formless was obliterated. The sheer strength of the Death Stare attack was such that even a Level 6 monarch would find it challenging to withstand! Although Zhang Nu intended to end the battle swiftly, eliminating a mythic-class opponent posed a challenge. He did not receive a kill notification, and the surrounding space continued to shimmer with stars, indicating that the opponent was not killed.
Far from being dismayed or angry, Zhang Nu instead displayed an expression of keen interest. "Surviving an attack from me? Intriguing!"
Zhang Nu closed his Eye of Death. The attack had exerted too much force, and the Eye of Death needed some time to cool down. With his current strength, it would take approximately ten minutes to recover. The Azure Water Empress was astonished by Zhang Nu's formidable power. She had never witnessed such a brutal, ruthless, plain yet unstoppable attack. This individual claiming to be the Lord of the Darkness City truly had unfathomable strength!
Shui Lan reminded, "Don't let your guard down. Morton the Formless can resurrect. His soul is incredibly powerful. As long as the soul is not completely annihilated, even a tiny residual fragment can regenerate."
In the blink of an eye, the myriad stardust resulting from the monster's explosive demise, numbering in the billions, coalesced into a nebula. Slowly, it began to rotate and condense, eventually forming a fearsome humanoid creature standing six meters tall, adorned with three heads and nine arms, exuding a terrifying aura. Compared to the amalgamation of flesh and crystal in its earlier grotesque form, this new appearance was noticeably more coordinated.
The fluctuations in Shui Lan's soul intensified. "This is bad. Not only did Morton survive, but he also utilized the attack to reconstruct his body. Things have just become even more difficult!"
Morton's current form lacked any flesh and blood. From head to toe, it was composed entirely of crystalline material. Yet, its presence, far from diminishing compared to before, had become even more potent.
"You actually wielded a trace of the divine source!" Morton the Formless emitted an angry psychic will. Clearly, he was astounded by the power of the Eye of Death, unable to comprehend how mere mortals could command the essence of divinity.
"However," he continued, "with this power alone, you cannot defeat me in a single strike! You should be unable to muster another attack like this, right? Moreover, thanks to your attack, I have been deconstructed and reformed, reshaping my body. My current state is more than twice as powerful as before!"
Morton's crystalline body radiated brilliance, and a powerful psychic consciousness enveloped the entire space.
[You are under attack by the Power of Flames. HP -0!]
[You are under attack by the Power of Frost. HP -0!]
[You are under attack by the Power of Earth. HP -0!]
[You are under attack by the Power of Gale. HP -0!]
[......]
Although the power of elemental forces was more formidable, Morton still could not break through Zhang Nu's defenses. Zhang Nu's "Super Magic Immunity" was not just for show. With the improvement of his strength, the immunity effect also increased. Unless Morton used an elemental attack beyond S-rank, it was impossible to pose any threat. Compared to himself, Shui Lan was more of a concern. The legendary empress was currently quite vulnerable. If she accidentally perished here, the loss would be too significant.
Morton finally realized that the power of elemental forces might be ineffective against this enemy, so he decided to launch a more powerful attack!
"Stellar Descent!"
Stars lit up in all directions. Streams of starlight transformed into meteors, carrying with them daemonic flames and the power of the four elements, heading towards Zhang Nu's location. Each attack was of no less intensity than an A-rank magic. With hundreds of such attacks, if they all hit Zhang Nu in a short period, it would be enough to pose a certain level of threat and damage to him.
Morton was well aware that Zhang Nu could not continuously activate the Death Stare. Therefore, he prepared to quickly eliminate him to prevent the opponent from activating the divine source again. However, at this moment, the twinkling starlight, like a gust of wind sweeping through candlelight, extinguished one after another. The vast and magnificent space filled with shimmering stars was engulfed and drowned in endless darkness.
Morton's face changed drastically. He could clearly sense that a stronger domain had been unleashed from his target, directly suppressing the starry field and rendering his own domain ineffective. This attack was based on the initiation of the starry domain. Now that the starry domain had disappeared, the offensive momentum naturally disintegrated. Meanwhile, the space began to distort, time was manipulated, making him move extremely sluggish, almost immobile.
This was a divine realm that could freely manipulate space and time!
Morton realized that the enemy he was facing right now possessed incredibly powerful abilities, possibly not much inferior to the Azure Water Empress in her prime. With his current strength, it would be extremely difficult to defeat this opponent.
Zhang Nu transmitted a message psychically: "Is this all you've got?" Morton was extremely angry. He attempted to break free from the confinement of space and time, but how could he resist against a force of this level?
Zhang Nu clutched his hand and grasped at the void.Morton keenly felt the surrounding space and time violently collapsing, as if a black hole was forming around him. After being absorbed by this black hole, the pressure from the collapsed space-time made Morton unable to move. His body was rapidly flattened and torn.
"This is impossible! You, an ant of a lower world! How can you wield such power?"
Zhang Nu instantly moved in front of Morton, conjuring a giant sword of a hundred meters. With a single slash, he struck the crystal body that seemed impervious to conventional weapons. A vast expanse of thunder and flames surged down, sweeping through everything. Morton was once again blasted into pieces. This time, there was no chance for him to reconstruct his body.
Employing his ultimate move, he detached his soul directly from his crystal body, temporarily overcoming the resistance of space and time. The soul released from the collapsing region instantly dove into Zhang Nu's body.
"Your body! Your power! From now on, it belongs to me!"
The voice of Morton echoed in Zhang Nu's mind. He could keenly feel the immense psychic power of this descendant of an Evil God. The descendant attempted to suppress Zhang Nu's will with psychic power, then devour his soul, ultimately taking control of this body.
"A possession-type ability?"
The reason this descendant of an evil god was known as Morton the Formless lay in its exceptionally powerful soul. Not only was it extremely difficult to eliminate, but it could effortlessly seize the bodies of others, effectively taking over and acquiring the talents of its victims.
Compared to the bodies made from the twelve corpses of the Sea Kings, Morton clearly favored Zhang Nu's body more. If it could obtain this powerful body, consume the formidable soul within, and acquire the talents embedded in both the body and soul, then his strength would be several times more potent. Furthermore, its future growth potential would become even more formidable.
However, the plan was flawless, yet the very first step had already gone awry. As Morton made contact with Zhang Nu's soul, it felt like touching a red-hot branding iron without any preparation---intense burning pain followed by a piercing scream.
"A divine soul?"
Morton's voice was filled with frustration and anger. While it had anticipated this individual's extraordinary strength, it did not expect it to be so overpowering. Zhang Nu had cultivated a divine soul that was virtually indestructible and immortal.
A divine soul was a characteristic of beings at the mythic or legendary class. Six thousand years ago, Azure Water Empress was a Level 6 legendary existence. In her prime, she almost single-handedly held back other descendants of Evil Gods and even Evil Gods themselves from entering the rift, successfully sealing the world's breach.
Now, Zhang Nu possessed power close to a Level 6 legend. In other words, at this very moment, this Demon King had strength comparable to Azure Water Empress in her prime. Although Zhang Nu had just entered this rank, due to his ability to control space and time, along with the power of Evil Gods, he might even be more challenging to deal with than Shui Lan in her prime.
Even Morton the Formless, with all its power, could not devour such a soul.
Morton immediately prepared to retreat. Although the possession had failed, self-preservation was not an issue. While his soul lacked the formidable divinity of Zhang Nu, as a descendant of an Evil God, he possessed some undying characteristics. As long as his soul could escape, he had the chance to resurrect.
He needed to find an opportunity to reopen the seal of the rift in the Abyssal Trench. However, for now, he could only temporarily avoid the impending danger. As Morton was about to leave, he suddenly realized he could not. Zhang Nu's mental will, like a cage, trapped him within.
"What's going on?" Morton felt his soul imprisoned in a pitch-black place. At the same time, a figure approached. The mental manifestation of the Demon King took on a humanoid form---a person in casual sportswear, with black short hair and a handsome face, appearing quite ordinary.
He looked at the imprisoned descendant of the Evil God. His two eyes were peculiar, one emitting the power of death in red, and the other blue and white, radiating psychic power. At this moment, the Eye of Dominator was at work, ensuring that Morton was mentally trapped within Zhang Nu's consciousness. As Zhang Nu approached, a blood-red mist emanated from his body.
Morton was completely stunned. "You absorbed three divine sources? That's impossible!"
Zhang Nu replied, "Nothing is impossible. Do you have any last words?"
Morton the Formless, who had experienced countless battles and participated in the conquest of numerous realms and dimensions throughout his life, was now facing an unprecedented sense of fear and despair. "You can't kill me, or my brothers and our patriarch will surely seek revenge on you."
Zhang Nu shook his head. "I thought the descendants of Evil Gods would say something different. Turns out, it's just the same old cliché. Well then!"
As he spoke, the Corrupted Blood coalesced on his fingertips. Eventually, it gently touched a point on Morton's soul. In the next moment, the soul was corroded, and simultaneously, flames ignited. Morton let out a piercing scream. However, the process of soul corrosion and incineration did not last long. Soon, the entire soul turned into nothingness.
At the same time, Zhang Nu received a notification:
[You've slain "Envoy Leader of Myriad Stars: Morton the Formless". Gold +35 million!]
Success! The removal of the domain was successful due to the death of the leader. All the monsters in the trench calmed down.
Zhang Nu did not receive the conquest reward, indicating that the number of kills in this area was not sufficient to be judged as conquered. He immediately seized the time to join forces with Han Kexin to clear the remaining monsters. The harvest from this round was astonishing. Just the small monsters and mini-bosses killed by Zhang Nu numbered nearly a thousand. The combined income from these monsters and Morton the Formless was approximately 260 million gold!
When occupying the entire Chaos Forest and opening the exclusive treasure chest, Zhang Nu received a total of only 100 million gold. This time, the loot from killing monsters alone exceeded twice the Chaos Forest treasure chest rewards, and the rewards for occupying the Abyssal Trench had not been distributed yet.
Time was running out! The Azure Water Federation would soon discover the abnormality in the trench. Zhang Nu began to worry that he would not have enough time to complete the conquest of the area. Fortunately, with Han Kexin's assistance, the two joined forces, spending a day exterminating all the Star Envoys. Although they missed some magical creatures, they fulfilled the occupation conditions.
[You've conquered the Abyssal Trench!]
[You gained "Gorgeous Stardust Diamond Chest" x1 !]
Zhang Nu was overjoyed. He had received the area occupation reward! This meant that the operation had concluded perfectly!
At this moment, Han Kexin reminded him, "Large groups of troops are approaching!"
Zhang Nu nodded, "We can't stay here. Let's return to Darkness City first!"
He was unsure whether the Empress's current status still held the same influence over the Azure Water Federation as it did in the past. After all, it had been six thousand years, and the internal forces within the federation might have undergone significant changes. Moreover, the Azure Water Empress was currently just a soul, and her strength might not be strong enough to control the situation. Without adequate preparation, revealing the Empress's existence prematurely might not be a good idea.
Therefore, Zhang Nu avoided contact with people from the Azure Water Federation. He immediately used an expensive teleportation stone to return to Darkness City with Shui Lan and Han Kexin."