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"I'm fine?" Old Demon Devour was stunned.
"How could I be fine?"
He looked up at Xu Yuan, his face filled with confusion. "Where is this? Have we already left Devil Island?"
Even the Old Demon Devour, who was skilled in using illusions to test others, was now utterly bewildered and unsure of where he was.
This was because he had lost all perception of the real space and even the life energy within the valley.
After all, his very existence relied on that life energy, yet now he couldn't sense it at all.
Logically, he should have dissipated, but in reality, he felt perfectly stable.
"It seems, Elder, your condition is good. I've done my best to sever your connection with the life energy," Xu Yuan said.
Old Demon Devour looked around at Xu Yuan's Dream Space.
From Xu Yuan's words, he deduced that this was a special space controlled by Xu Yuan. They were still in the valley, despite the illusion.
But how could such a realistic world be carried around?
"Elder, next, I will truly cut off your link to life energy. You must carefully monitor your own state."
Without giving Old Demon Devour a chance to respond, Xu Yuan immediately activated his Seven Forbidden Techniques.
Though his techniques couldn't fully control the entire realm, their effects within the Dream Space were exaggerated.
Old Demon Devour's expression changed drastically.
A looming sense of crisis overwhelmed him; he felt as if he would dissipate in the next moment.
Xu Yuan also noticed this, sensing that something essential was missing from Old Demon Devour's essence, causing him to nearly vanish on the spot.
However, Xu Yuan wasn't worried.
Suddenly, a spear of light appeared in the Dream Space.
The spear radiated an intense aura, exuding the utmost spear intent. It flew in from afar, stopping beside Xu Yuan.
Jue revealed its true form, releasing a powerful life force under Old Demon Devour's astonished gaze.
Old Demon Devour had broad knowledge and immediately recognized Jue's uniqueness. This aura was far beyond what any ordinary spear could possess—it might even be a divine artifact.
But why did this divine spear suddenly release life energy?
A spear paired with life attributes?
What nonsense!
Although Old Demon Devour found it absurd, he was quickly shocked by the overwhelming life force released by Jue.
The quality of this vitality was incredibly high.
The life energy in the valley carried a unique property, but in terms of sheer quality, it was only slightly stronger than the vitality emitted by Xu Yuan's spear.
How could this be?
Old Demon Devour knew well that the two types of energy on Devil Island were essentially remnants of two God Kings from when the divine realm still existed.
Could it be that the power of these God Kings was just marginally higher than the life force emitted by Xu Yuan's spear?
"It seems, Elder, your spirit body has stabilized." Xu Yuan's voice pulled Old Demon Devour out of his thoughts.
Old Demon Devour looked down at his body and realized his condition had stabilized again.
"So your plan is to replicate the environment of Devil Island using almost equivalent power, providing us with a means to survive?" Old Demon Devour chuckled bitterly.
"That's correct."
"My current state is stable, but it's slowly deteriorating. Our continued existence isn't solely reliant on life energy but also on the destructive energy that caused our deaths. The interplay of both energies gave us the chance to be reborn."
"I'm aware of that, but during the transfer process, I can only stabilize your states with the power of Life Gold for now. Once we reach Sea God Island, I'll create a new space for the seven Elders. I'll craft an environment even more suitable for you than this one."
If Elder Tree were to assist, they could indeed create an environment superior to Devil Island.
Though the Golden Ancient Tree might not match the level of the two God Kings, it was the core of the plane. It represented the plane itself, and for the seven Elders born on Douluo Planet—having absorbed the life force scattered by the Golden Ancient Tree during their cultivation—the life energy in the environment created by the tree would be easier to absorb.
The Golden Ancient Tree was also an excellent vessel for the seven Old Demons to reside in.
As for the corresponding environment for destructive energy, that wouldn't be difficult to achieve either. The demonic plane's energy opposed the primal energy of Douluo Planet and could serve as a balancing point.
Using the coexistence of the two planes' opposing forces to sustain the seven soul bodies should provide great stability.
Of course, there was another plan: collect the radiation energy from the explosion of the God-Slaying Missile and integrate it into the newly created space. This would condense a similar essence, achieving symbiosis with life energy within the new space.
The damage caused by the God-Slaying Missile was minimized to the extreme, but its radiation still affected Shrek City. Though Shrek hadn't been destroyed, thanks to the presence of the Golden Ancient Tree, which released an even denser life force, the impact of the radiation was mitigated.
In fact, even so, the population of Shrek City had drastically declined.
The city's permanent population was now less than half of what it was before the missile struck, but Shrek City remained prosperous. As the headquarters of the three major factions, it gathered the continent's top resources.
Though Old Demon Devour hadn't received further detailed plans from Xu Yuan, he believed him based on the promises made.
Given that Xu Yuan was truly Yun Ming's disciple and his purpose was to bring the seven of them back home, if he could transfer them back to the academy, then measures for their resettlement must have been prepared.
Yes, the seven Old Demons were that cautious.
While training each generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters, they also had to deal with counterattacks, lies, and psychological warfare. Their caution ran deep.
Without at least a 98% certainty, the seed of doubt wouldn't disappear.
"Alright, I've understood the situation of the seven Elders."
As he spoke, Old Demon Devour felt the surrounding environment shift. He regained awareness of the space and sensed the life energy that had sustained him for thousands of years.
He looked at the other six and saw their puzzled expressions—they didn't appear frantic about his disappearance.
"You just scanned us with spiritual power and know our situation?" Old Demon Loathe questioned skeptically.
He found Xu Yuan unreliable.
"Spiritual power just touched me, and you know my state?" Old Demon Lust shook his head, feeling Xu Yuan was pretending.
Old Demon Devour's mind stirred.
"How long did just now last?"
"What do you mean 'how long'? Didn't he just say two sentences?"
"Can your space accelerate time?" Old Demon Devour looked at Xu Yuan, his eyes revealing shock.
Xu Yuan smiled. "My Dream Space is fundamentally an illusion, so controlling some perception of time is quite normal."
Many illusions could make those trapped believe they'd experienced a long time, with clear memories of everything, as if it truly happened.
This was amplification of perception.
Real-time flow was hard to change, but extending perceived duration effectively accelerated time.
However, Xu Yuan's Dream Space differed—it genuinely accelerated time within.
The Dream Space was inherently illusory, and its time definitions were set by Xu Yuan.
Perhaps the essence was the same, but as long as Xu Yuan firmly believed it was time acceleration, the Dream Space evolved closer to reality, naturally deriving time-related laws and gaining temporal power.
Time, after all, was a concept, but also a tangible force in this world—a foundation of essence and a cornerstone of law.
Having a concept of time in an illusory world held immense significance.
Xu Yuan consistently referred to this technique as time acceleration, integrating his understanding of time into the space at every moment.
By now, his Dream Space achieved genuine time acceleration, distinct from mere perception stretching. As the space approached reality, it merged with and distorted the actual surrounding space's time flow.
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"Devour, why ask this? What just happened?"
The other six Old Demons quickly realized Old Demon Devour had been taken aside by Xu Yuan for a private meeting.
"He does have the ability to stabilize our states. If the academy can create a similar environment, we really have a chance to return."
"What? No way, I need to experience it first," Old Demon Lust said.
"Fine, Elders, go ahead. Is there anything in this valley you want to take? If so, you can gather it first."
"Just things we've collected in our spare time, nothing important."
Xu Yuan nodded, no longer insisting, and directly pulled the seven Old Demons into the Dream Space.
The Dream Space was semi-real, semi-illusory, and the seven, strictly speaking, were just soul bodies. Thus, they could be fully drawn into the Dream Space without leaving physical remnants behind.
For normal soul masters, Xu Yuan could only pull their consciousness into the Dream Space, leaving their bodies outside. Unless the soul master died, Xu Yuan could virtualize their bodies, turning them into energy absorbed into the Dream Space.
"Now, I can properly study this Devil Island."
With the Old Demons' issue resolved, Xu Yuan turned his attention to the valley.
The dense life energy had already stirred an irrepressible excitement within him.
Jue flew out from Xu Yuan's forehead, shimmering with emerald green light in the air.
"I want to try absorbing the life energy here."
"Not yet. Let me thoroughly study the mechanisms of life and destruction energy here first. Then you can absorb both forces simultaneously—that's the right approach."
Jue wobbled its spear body, agreeing with Xu Yuan.
Indeed, while life energy tempted the spear, destruction energy was also beneficial, enhancing its thunderforce.
Xu Yuan calmed the excited spear and released other soul spirits like Huan Xing.
"The opportunity on Devil Island isn't just for Huan Xing. All five of you should benefit."
"Star Lord (Xingjun), destruction energy should also be useful for you, right?"
Star Lord's eyes opened and closed, numerous tentacles waving.
"Our Evil Eye race has a talent for destruction. Since I mastered lightning under the lightning tribulation, I should have this innate talent."
"Then you can also absorb destruction energy. With star, destruction, and spirit attributes, this should lay a solid foundation for your ascension to godhood."
Star Lord's tentacles continued waving.
He was now determined to become a god.
Though he hadn't been with Xu Yuan as long as the other four soul spirits, he had genuinely felt Xu Yuan's terrifying potential.
In just a few short years, Star Lord confidently declared that if Xu Yuan couldn't become a god, he'd eat his own words.
And if Xu Yuan became a god, they, as soul spirits, would also have a chance to ascend.
This was certain.
Star Lord had witnessed Xu Yuan's cultivation from the essence, not relying on coincidence.
The advancement of soul spirits had been systematically understood by him, and their progress was steady.
Moreover, the longer he merged with Xu Yuan, the more he realized his own logical thinking seemed to break free from limitations.
This was likely a hidden trait of Xu Yuan's Brain martial soul.
Perhaps the mental link combined with Huan Xing's brain differentiation abilities allowed Xu Yuan to share his uniquely human thought processes with the soul spirits.
In just a few years, Star Lord's mental activity surpassed what he'd experienced in tens of thousands of years, and his understanding of power deepened far beyond before.
Xu Yuan released the five soul spirits and moved deeper into the valley.
Outside the valley, the purplish-black destructive energy suffocated the entire island, rendering all vegetation lifeless.
Inside the valley, the dense life energy brimmed with vitality.
However, at the valley's core, there was a place of destruction.
A column of intertwined purplish-black and emerald-green light pierced the valley's heart, seemingly reaching the heavens.
Xu Yuan approached the pillar.
"As expected, there is an essence here."
Seeing the core of Devil Island, Xu Yuan reaffirmed his belief.
The essences of the Destruction God and Life Goddess intertwined here.
Of course, this was only a tiny fraction of their essence.
Still, it was invaluable.
With essence came roots, meaning Devil Island's two energies were renewable.
"Jue, stay here to undergo the refinement of both forces. My initial contact with destruction energy has already left its imprint in my blood essence."
"Yao Yao, you and Shan He go to replicate everything in the valley into your respective spaces."
Shan He's scroll contained a small space, though it was only recorded and not yet a true spatial creation.
"Though destruction's essence is terrifying, combined with life, it becomes an indispensable part of a small world—a very stable framework."
"Huan Xing, you..."
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