Chapter 563: Aftermath

The evening breeze whistled across the nameless ridge, stirring Luo Yan's hair, which was agitated by magical currents, and blowing away the wails of the creature curled at his feet.

Ma Lusi was dead.

This monster, who had entrenched himself in the shadows of the Kingdom of Lian for decades, had been completely dissolved—along with his decaying husk and soul corrupted by Chaos—into the black flames leaking from Luo Yan's fingertips.

He rarely killed opponents in such a cruel manner, unless he felt that giving them a quick end would be "an affront to the Dao."

As that broken body turned to ash, the vengeful spirits bound and stitched within him were finally liberated at this moment.

A miracle occurred.

They did not dissipate immediately but transformed into fluorescent lights dancing across the sky.

At that moment, the pitch-black night sky seemed to reflect a galaxy of stars.

"Thank you..."

Faint whispers overlapped in the wind—the most sincere gratitude from souls freed from their shackles.

Among them were tender children, elderly folk, desperate mothers... and many babbling cries that had never even taken shape.

Tens of thousands of light motes swirled and circled around Luo Yan like sparks rising from a bonfire, then ascended toward the vast sea of stars.

Luo Yan stood quietly at the edge of the cliff, letting those warm motes pass through his bangs, which rose and fell with the evening breeze.

"Go on," he said softly.

He did not hold them back, watching as they drifted toward the vast star sea.

He blessed them to encounter beautiful scenery on their next journey and to heal from the unpleasantness they had experienced in this "Hive"...

As the last fluorescent motes dissipated, a vast, indescribable energy surged into Luo Yan's body along the threads of karma, silently and invisibly.

It was the spoils stolen by a Grandmaster-level thief from tens of thousands of Lian people.

Perhaps out of gratitude for their revenge, or perhaps to thank this kind soul for transcending their vengeful spirits, a portion of the spiritual essence returned to the earth under the pull of karma, merging into the "Hive," while another portion surged toward their new, longed-for dwelling in a silent resonance.

As that vast power surged in, Luo Yan heard a crisp, shattering sound within his body; his sea of consciousness, as brilliant as the starry sky, seemed to break through an invisible barrier.

The solid rampart that had blocked him for so long dissolved like thin ice falling into magma under the scouring of that vast power.

Luo Yan closed his eyes, quickly entering a meditative state, sinking his consciousness into his sea of consciousness.

There was not a hint of pain.

Nor was there an endless surge of vengeful spirits.

There was only the comfort of his soul stretching infinitely, as if the parched earth had welcomed a torrential downpour after a long drought.

He felt as if he had become a butterfly breaking free from its cocoon, and the world's rules, previously blurred, now became clear and visible in his perception.

The flow of wind was no longer just air currents, but the breathing of the planet. The rocks beneath his feet were no longer inanimate objects; through the rock layers, he could faintly hear their silent pulse.

A joyful emotion welled up in Luo Yan's heart; the "Hive Theory" became incomparably concrete at this moment.

He could clearly feel that the planet beneath his feet was like a living hive, with countless fresh light motes acting like neurons, constructing its spiritual network.

And at this moment, this hive was opening its doors to him, welcoming him to become the new master... or one of them.

Spiritual power covered a hundred miles like a bursting river, and the crawling of every ant and the trembling of every leaf could not escape his perception.

He opened his eyes slowly, and deep within his violet pupils, a golden halo faintly emerged.

In the void before him, a pale blue panel appeared quietly, its data having undergone earth-shaking changes.

【

ID: Luo Yan

Race: Human

Soul Level: Grandmaster (Level Cap: Lv. 170)

Level: Lv. 151 (+1)

Constitution: 291 (+66)

Strength: 239 (+67)

Agility: 246 (+67)

Intelligence: 1969 (+800)

Spirit: 2149 (+1000)

】

"Is this... the scenery above Grandmaster?"

Luo Yan clenched his fist lightly, and the elements floating in his palm emitted a faint hum, which then transformed into the trembling of the mountain beneath his feet.

A look of joy surfaced on his face.

He did not need the guidance of incantations; as long as he willed it, the elements floating beside him would obey him like subjects.

This level of control over the rules was a completely different dimension from the simple piling up of magic power before!

The numerical values on the attribute panel could no longer reflect his true strength.

At the same time, the data below the attribute panel changed silently.

As this "Hand of the Former King" who had wreaked havoc on the Kingdom of Lian was severed, an invisible aura was gathering toward him.

It was a "small hive" privately cast in the Hive by Ma Lusi and his partners through some blasphemous power.

As a corner of this newborn hive was severed, the faith power that had been invisibly plundered flowed back.

【Influence Share: 12.2% (+2%)】

"Wow!"

A milky-white ghost appeared out of thin air, circling Luo Yan excitedly twice.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! You are one step closer to the throne of the gods! How does it feel? Do you feel omnipotent?"

Luo Yan opened his eyes, deep divine light swirling in his violet pupils before returning to calm.

Looking at You You, who was crowding in front of him, he smiled slightly and said with breezy indifference:

"Not bad. It's not like I only realized I was omnipotent today."

"No, as expected of the Demon King! Your posturing is so silky smooth!"

Ignoring the sycophant floating beside him, Luo Yan carefully sensed the changes in his own power and cleared his chaotic thoughts.

It wasn't just the power that delighted him.

At the moment his soul sublimated, he gained a deeper understanding of the ethereal "faith power" and the "Hive" constructed by the thoughts of the masses.

What increases supernatural power is not the slaughter itself; essentially, it is more about the resonance of souls!

Slaughter is merely one of the methods.

When duels are launched under strong wills, spirits naturally resonate, and their karma becomes entangled.

When a deceased soul is released from the flesh, a portion of the spiritual essence returns to the Hive under the pull of karma, while another portion is attracted by the soul essence in close proximity during the spiritual resonance.

This is why sneak attacks, poisoning, and massacres often don't yield much "experience," and only battles that are evenly matched or involve a comeback can achieve soul sublimation.

And challengers who face their opponents directly, even without dealing tons of damage or the key blow, can share the largest portion based on the opponent's "hatred value."

As for traditional cultivation methods like meditation and martial arts training, they involve absorbing the "spiritual essence" drifting between heaven and earth from the Hive.

Although this process does not involve interaction with other souls, it is also in line with the "Hive Theory" of the Soul School.

Thinking of this, Luo Yan couldn't help but sigh; no wonder the Great Sage didn't treat him as a threat—he never had the chance to touch the knowledge that truly touched the soul.

And the fact that someone could research these things meant they truly had the capital for arrogance.

At this moment, a fluttering sound came from beneath the cliff, and Yu Xi, flapping her wings, flew up unsteadily.

The heart-pounding confrontation just now had frightened her quite a bit.

Seeing Luo Yan unharmed, she immediately landed on the rock and prostrated herself, wishing she could bury her face in the dirt.

"Your Majesty is mighty and peerless! That old thing was no match for you at all! I... I knew it, no one in this world can block your path! It was just too cool!"

Yu Xi's flattery was deafening, though it was still a notch below Mixi's.

Honestly, the Demon King still appreciated her "petty-minded triumph" look. He had many demon generals skilled at posturing, but few could make the word "small fry" sound so pleasant.

Ignoring Yu Xi's sycophancy, Luo Yan's gaze swept over the dozen black corpses curled in the grass not far away.

Those were the little demons who had died at Ma Lusi's hands; their hearts had been shattered, and their deaths were extremely miserable.

However, unlike those souls who returned to the star sea, theirs had already returned to the Great Graveyard, residing on the stone tablets of the temple.

Although they couldn't be reborn with memories like the players, the Demon King would remember their contributions and factor them into the "starting panel" of their next lives.

"Take your kin back. Take them back to the Great Graveyard for a proper burial."

"As you command, Your Majesty!"

Yu Xi bowed respectfully, then called out to the little demons hiding at the foot of the mountain to come back to work, not sparing a moment of grief for her fallen kin.

Being heartless was the nature of little demons; these little creatures were different from humans, living very happily every day.

At this moment, she suddenly noticed the two hundred human corpses lying on the mountain and asked the Demon King:

"By the way, Your Majesty, what about these humans? Should we dispose of them together? Or take them back to feed Alakto..."

"Leave them be."

Stowing away the spoils Ma Lusi had dropped into his space ring, Luo Yan turned around, his back to the bloody battlefield, his voice drifting away with the night wind.

"Someone will come to collect their bodies."

The July sun was as scorching as boiling asphalt, pouring mercilessly onto the ridges of the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, extinguishing the arrogant flames of the rat-men.

Since the Kingdom of Gustov showed its true colors, the coalition's offensive was like a hot knife through butter, and the First Mountain Infantry Regiment of the Campbell Principality saw new toys they had never seen before.

Rocket artillery was just the tip of the iceberg.

What truly shocked Sir Wesley was a hand-cranked fixed machine gun, capable of pouring tens of thousands of bullets like rain onto the enemy's position in a short time!

As long as the ammunition sent from the rear didn't stop, their gunfire wouldn't stop!

This time, he finally understood what the weapon that had riddled the shark-men attacking Mud Swamp City with holes was.

In the face of such weapons, dense formations would lose all meaning, and the tactic of "lining up to be shot" would become "lining up to die."

Perhaps—

The logic of war had truly changed.

The encirclement and suppression of the Rotten Meat Clan was just the beginning of the transformation.

In addition to machine guns, the participation of the Wind Roar Tribe brought a large number of aerial units to the front line, and the wind lizards soaring on the mountain peaks provided precise coordinates and firing calibration for the artillery.

The rat-men's defensive lines kept shrinking, retreating completely into the mountain caves, relying only on poison gas and magic scrolls for a desperate struggle, trying to claw back some advantage.

However, facts proved that their struggle was futile.

Facing the fearless lizard-man army and the "Holy Spirits" mixed among them, they could only scream and curse the Kingdom of Gustov for not playing by the rules.

As for the Campbell Principality?

Although some "rumors" about Holy Spirits appeared on the front line, both the front-line officers and the rear commanders chose to turn a blind eye.

There was no direct evidence that the Kingdom of Gustov used necromancy; what if they were using the "Seal" arts of the Gana Continent?

And that Dragon Language magic.

In short, since it was a matter for allies and they weren't stealing their corpses, even Edward tacitly approved of this harmless blasphemy.

The only one interested in the rumors of Holy Spirits was probably Ailin, but she was busy dealing with the Chosen Rat-Men and alchemical golems appearing all over the front line and couldn't spare a hand.

In just three days, the First Regiment of the Kingdom of Gustov and the First Mountain Infantry Regiment of the Campbell Principality pushed the front line nearly thirty kilometers to the north!

The number of rescued Lian people was countless, and the refugees stranded outside Crow City were approaching the ten-thousand mark, nearly one-tenth of the local population.

Thanks to Vivian's St. Colin Hospital Knight Order, these people survived instead of dying from plague or wound infections.

As for the mental wounds, it would perhaps take a very long time to heal...

Front line.

The soles of boots crushed the weathered shale, making a teeth-gritting sound.

Dickbin stopped, wiped the sweat mixed with dust from his forehead, and looked forward, comparing it with the map in his hand.

This was a highland at an altitude of 1,200 meters.

Although the temperature on the mountain was slightly colder than at the foot, the scorching sun was unforgiving, almost melting the silver medal on his chest.

On the morning of July 11, 1054, Os Era, Second Lieutenant Dickbin of the 1st Platoon, 1st Company, Lian Battalion, 1st Mountain Infantry Regiment of Campbell, was ordered to lead a platoon of lads to the artillery position that had previously rained fire on the Lian Battalion and plant the Lian Battalion's flag there.

Even now, Sir Dickbin's memory of that night was still vivid; nearly a company of lads had been sent to the sky by the fire meteors in their sleep.

After that heart-pounding "meteor shower," Grand Duke Edward personally inspected the front line.

He did not punish anyone for the heavy casualties of the Lian Battalion; instead, he fairly promoted every survivor who had performed excellently.

The nearly one hundred soldiers who survived thus became experienced veterans, leading the newly enlisted lads to refill the Lian Battalion's establishment.

Even Dickbin received an equal commendation, his rank changing from Corporal to Second Lieutenant.

Honestly, when that badge was pinned to his chest, he almost couldn't believe it was real.

He had always thought that Edward throwing him into this meat-grinder front line was purely out of disgust for a chatterbox envoy and a public humiliation of the Devalu family.

But now, he had a different view of that Grand Duke, and finally understood why the Campbell Principality was so prosperous.

If even someone like him could be fairly promoted, what power could block the iron hooves of this principality?

He didn't want to talk about the problem of Xioden; that was his sovereign after all. But he knew in his heart that the seemingly broad-minded king couldn't even tolerate a cook.