Chapter 191: Ether Seeking Aid
Organizing his abilities on the Red Planet took Yu Xian most of the day. At the same time, by basking in sunlight, he accumulated an amount of energy equivalent to that provided by five days of ordinary sun exposure.
However, refining bloodlines like those of Winged Dragon, Xingtian, the Bull Demon King, Chi You, or Tao Tie required an astronomical amount of energy. The tiny fraction he had accumulated was nowhere near enough.[1]
Given his current ability to absorb light, simply basking in the sun was the least efficient method available to him. After Light Feeder evolved into Light Devourer, he had gained an even more efficient way to consume light.
Yu Xian had never intended to complete his next transformation through ordinary sun exposure alone. Once he was done reviewing his abilities, he stood and looked toward the sun. A spatial bubble enveloped him, and he vanished. When he reappeared, he was already near the Gray Planet[2]. The entire planet was shrouded in gray, resembling a world that had long since died.
Yu Xian glanced at the planet, then manipulated his Primordial Pureblood to wrap himself inside an olive-shaped crimson blood cocoon. "Pureblood Cocoon, Light-Devouring Tree!"
Enormous branches sprouted from the cocoon. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into an absurdly massive tree. As sunlight fell upon the tree, the leaves began absorbing it.
The originally crimson tree rapidly turned black and greedily devoured the surrounding light. Every ray within a radius of several thousand kilometers became its nourishment.
After absorbing enough light, the tree did not channel the energy to Yu Xian. Instead, it used the energy to continue growing. Branches quickly extended in every direction, binding the asteroids drifting through space.
One day later, a colossal black tree tens of thousands of meters tall silently orbited the sun, with the Gray Planet trailing three hundred thousand kilometers behind it. By taking advantage of the Gray Planet's gravity, the tree would neither drift endlessly toward the sun nor fall into it. At the same time, it could expose the greatest possible surface area to sunlight and absorb every ray of light within a radius of five hundred thousand kilometers.
At the center of the Light-Devouring Tree, Yu Xian remained inside the Pureblood Cocoon as an immense and unending stream of energy surged into him. He immediately activated the Blood Demon Style: Infinite Self-Devouring Art and began refining the various bloodlines within his body. His Power gradually began to rise.
***
Back on the Blue Planet, Edward had developed a powerful sense of danger after being attacked by Yu Xian. He had always been extremely cautious. Otherwise, he would not have concealed his ambitions for centuries, revealing them only after obtaining absolute power.
Now that he had discovered an enemy on the Blue Planet who was weaker than him, yet seemingly not by much, only one thought remained in his mind. He had to become stronger and gain even greater power as quickly as possible.
Therefore, he accelerated his conquest of the Blue Planet. Whenever he arrived in a country, he slaughtered its ruler, then selected ten lackeys and bestowed vampire bloodlines upon them so that they could produce more vampires as quickly as possible.
Originally, he had planned to leave half the population of every country human and transform only the other half into vampires, thereby maintaining a balance. Now, however, he had changed his mind.
Everyone in the Eastern nations would be transformed into vampires. Only a portion of the Western nations' population and some of the humans in the countries surrounding the Romulus Dominion would be spared. This was the true destruction of nations and eradication of entire populations.
Some intelligent individuals had realized what was happening, but intelligence without power was useless. They could only submit obediently to Edward's rule and allow themselves to be transformed into vampires.
It had to be said that Edward's method was extremely effective. Once the rate of transformation increased, humans were being turned into vampires every second. The newly transformed vampires then joined in granting the First Bite to others, which accelerated the conversion rate even further.
An endless stream of power poured into Edward. Unable to withstand such an immense amount of energy, he hurriedly channeled it into the Devil Cross, and the energy within it grew even more vast. Had Yu Xian been present, he would have observed the Devil Cross's power steadily rising from its original value of 90 to 91, 92, 93, and so on.
Under the protection of the Devil Cross, Edward could withstand approximately 10 points of Power. Therefore, of his total Power of 100, Edward accounted for 10 points, while the Devil Cross possessed the remaining 90. Now, the Devil Cross was gradually gaining the remaining 10 points of Power.
***
Ether was hiding inside a house in the Island Nation, ravenously eating bread. He had been ordered to scout the enemy and search for compatriots who had failed to return to Huaxia in time. However, he had never expected the situation outside to have deteriorated this badly. Following Edward's orders, the vampires were frantically capturing people and transforming them into vampires, sparing neither the elderly, children, nor pregnant women.
After leaving Huaxia Pocket Dimension, he had no easy way to contact Qilin's headquarters inside. Whatever difficulties arose, he had to deal with them himself. His greatest problem now was protecting the compatriots sheltering in the house. Some had come to the Island Nation for business, while others were sailors who had arrived aboard cargo ships.
Huaxia's sudden migration into a pocket dimension had left them stranded abroad, unable to return home and completely uncertain about what to do. Fortunately, Ether's arrival had given them someone to rely on and reassured them that Huaxia had not abandoned them.
The problem was that the situation outside was worsening by the second, and Ether was not a combat-type supernatural being. As a result, everyone was trapped there.
Ether finished his bread and rose to his feet. "I'm going out to assess the situation. Stay quiet while I'm gone."
A beautiful mixed-race girl softly said, "Ether-kun, please be careful. You must come back safely."
Ether nodded. "Mm. I'll return as soon as possible."
He left the house and swiftly transformed into a streak of light that shot into the sky. Dark clouds covered the sky, making daytime scarcely any brighter than night. Edward had created these clouds to make it easier for the vampires to go around.
Ether pierced through the cloud layer and, relying on his memory, gritted his teeth and flew toward outer space. He had watched the videos Yu Xian had released, especially the one showing Edward returning from Lunar Orb. Several inconspicuous bubbles had appeared in the footage.
Ordinary viewers did not know what those bubbles represented, but Ether understood perfectly well that they were extensions of Yu Xian's will. As long as he could locate those bubbles above the atmosphere, perhaps Yu Xian could use them to send everyone home.
However, he had never flown this high before, and he was not even certain he could. Yet, with the lives of several hundred compatriots at stake, he had no choice but to risk everything.
As he flew, he calculated the angle of the sunlight and the position of Lunar Orb's shadow, constantly adjusting his direction. His Light Chaser ability allowed him to fly at sublight speed, but that did not mean he could survive without oxygen. Gradually, breathing became difficult, and an overwhelming drowsiness clouded his mind.
He had anticipated this, however, and immediately bit the tip of his tongue. The sharp pain jolted him awake, and he continued flying upward. "Brother Salted Fish, you'd better come through for me!"
Ether's eyes were bloodshot as he streaked through the atmosphere like a brilliant ray of light, crossing dozens of kilometers in an instant and drawing ever closer to Yu Xian's bubbles.
1. 饕餮 (Tāotiè) is a ferocious beast from Chinese mythology renowned for its insatiable appetite and commonly regarded as a symbol of greed and gluttony. ☜
2. This refers to Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun in the solar system. ☜