Chapter 1: Peak Asura

In the Netherworld, on a ten‑thousand‑meter peak outside Moyuan City, Hongyang Prefecture on the Nether Continent, there stands a dark crimson palace.

The palace is about a hundred meters tall and exudes an eerie aura.

Deep within the palace's main hall, a young man sits with his eyes closed, surrounded by countless vines whose surfaces intermittently emit gray‑black light, emerald green light, or a blend of the two.

Eons pass, the man slowly opens his eyes and says in a deep voice, "These Death and Life Rules always feel just one step away from breakthrough, yet no matter what, I cannot pass that step."

The man is Xiao En, a trans‑world traveler from Earth to the Panlong world, born with innate talents of the Life, Death, and Light Rules, and by chance completed a three‑system soul mutation on his birth Qingyuan Material Plane.

After cultivating on the material plane to become a High God, he sent an avatar of the Death God to the Netherworld; the other two avatars remain on the Qingyuan Material Plane.

Ten million years later, his Death and Life Rules have both reached the Asura level, and the fusion of these two arcane forces has become supreme; he estimates that one more step would make Heaven and Earth, like a Great Perfection, descend willpower might.

As for the Light Rule, its talent is average; even after ten million years it is only a Mid‑rank God, and the ultimate arcane Judgment of Light has never fully formed, stuck at the final step.

At that moment, a familiar voice comes from outside the main hall: "Master."

Xiao En instantly disperses the surrounding energy and says, "Asas, come in."

The gate opens quickly, and a man with three sharp horns on his head walks in, kneeling as he says, "I pay respects, Master."

"Stand up," Xiao En says coolly.

As a peak master of the Death Rule, he can naturally Soul‑Seed (soul‑control) a great number of other god‑level masters; the one before him is a Seven‑Star Demon who practices the Destruction Rule.

Moreover, his Soul‑Seed is exceptionally special—far scarier than the original work's Mosi—not because his arcane comprehension is stronger, but because, as a trans‑worlder with a cheat, he has a mysterious bead deep in his soul that Xiao En calls a "Soul Pearl."

He does not know the origin of this Soul Pearl, but it can protect his soul; as long as he does not die, the Soul Pearl instantly repairs any soul loss, like the nine supreme deity spirit pearls in the original work.

Whether it can, like Morde, revive after a soul‑based killing attack, Xiao En has never tried and does not dare to attempt.

Besides protecting his soul, the Soul Pearl has two other traits: it makes the Soul Poison he crafts a hundred times more potent, and it increases the number of his Soul‑Seeds and Confusing Souls.

Even Mosi could only Soul‑Seed a dozen Seven‑Star Demons before the souls became unbearable, whereas Xiao En can easily Soul‑Seed hundreds.

After Asas stands, he says, "Master, Master Bureille is ready."

"I understand," Xiao En replies coolly.

By the time Asas looks up, Xiao En has already vanished.

Inside Black Wind Valley:

"Bureille?" Xiao En appears behind a man and says suddenly.

"Master Xiao En," Bureille startles, then turns and says, "Master, the magic array is ready; you may now extract the Lord God's power."

"Good, thank you for your effort," Xiao En says with a smile.

Regarding Bureille, the original work's magic‑array master, Xiao En does not Soul‑Seed him—not because he refuses, but because he dares not gamble.

In the original, when Lin Lei selected the Lord God's envoy, Fate Master Ao Fu happened to send people to seize the envoy slots; the coincidence is too great, so Ao Fu likely already knew of this extraordinarily gifted magical master. If Xiao En Soul‑Seeded him, the consequences would be unpredictable.

Although he thinks the chance is slim, there is no need to gamble; a magic‑array master is just a master—building good relations and spending money can have him act on Xiao En's behalf, without risk.

Bureille adds, "Master Xiao En, I must remind you that even though I have prepared the magic array, the success rate of extracting the Lord God's power is extremely low. From what I know, many peak masters have a success probability of less than one in ten thousand; only those who frequently refine have a slightly higher chance."

"Don't worry, I know; if we fail, we'll try again," Xiao En nods.

The first difficulty in extracting the Lord God's power is its terrifyingly high failure rate, because after drawing the power from the currency, the operator must combine with the magic array to control the dissipating Lord God's power.

The power of the Lord God, in theory, can only be controlled by a Great Perfection possessing willpower might; other peak Asuras, even with a magic array's aid, have a negligible success probability, which also depends on the array's quality—hence Xiao En spent massive manpower, resources, and time to find Bureille.

Bureille continues, "The second difficulty is that during the extraction, the soul endures immense pressure, extreme pain, and requires continual replenishment of soul golden beads or other soul‑restoration methods.

If the pain becomes unbearable or the soul replenishment can't keep up, one cannot control the extracted Lord God's power and will fail."

"I was already prepared," Xiao En replies with a faint smile.

These two points almost eliminate peak masters' attempts to extract the Lord God's power themselves; the first point's one‑in‑ten‑thousand probability demands astronomical wealth, and the second tests a strong one's soul endurance, which most cannot bear.

For him, however, the situation is far better—his three‑system mutated soul is powerful, and his Soul Pearl can quickly replenish lost soul power.

Bureille nods, "Then please proceed. Once you enter, just follow my method."

"Very well." Xiao En flies directly into the magic array, and with a thought, countless nether stones instantly appear around him.

A hundred years pass; the day Bureille is meditating with his eyes closed, he suddenly feels the pressure inside the array vanish—either the gaseous Lord God's power from a failed extraction dissipated, or it succeeded.

After a while, Xiao En walks out from within.

Bureille steps forward and asks, "Master Xiao En, how did it go?"

"The last attempt succeeded," Xiao En says with a faint smile. "This extraction of the Lord God's power was very successful."

He had successfully extracted the Lord God's power sixteen times, filling him with joy; he never expected that the combination of his Soul Pearl and soul mutation could achieve such high efficiency.

(End of Chapter)